The Energy Department says it is too early to estimate the total cost for the Mercury Treatment Facility that will be built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., given that there are has multiple procurements going in connection with the project.
A DOE spokesman said Nov. 22 that the department should be able to release full cost figures after ongoing procurements connected with the Y-12 mercury project are complete. Lawmakers, DOE officials and other dignitaries held a groundbreaking ceremony for the mercury treatment facility on Nov. 20.
With the site preparation about to get underway, DOE anticipates awarding the construction contract and beginning work on the Mercury Treatment Facility in 2018, DOE spokesman Ben Williams told Weapons Complex Monitor in an email last week. “We estimate a peak of 45 workers for the early site preparation activities and 125 workers for construction,” the spokesman said.
GEM Technologies is handling the $1.4 million subcontract for the utilities relocation contract awarded in September. The field work was scheduled to begin Nov. 30, and the utility relocation was expected to be concluded in August 2018.
DOE has said the mercury project includes two primary parts — a headworks facility and a treatment plant that will be linked by a pipeline.
In addition, Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) is responsible for the construction of secant pile walls at the headworks site, said Williams said. Procurement is ongoing, he added. Finally, DOE will contract with a small business for minor demolition and the installation of pipeline road crossings. Procurement is ongoing for that work as well.
DOE’s procurement is also underway for the balance of construction of the Mercury Treatment Facility, which includes construction of the headworks facility and treatment plant, Williams said.
The mercury project vital to further cleanup at the DOE nuclear-weapon site, because once some of the 1940s era buildings are demolished, more contaminants could seep into groundwater.
Once built, in 2022, the new treatment plant is expected to slash mercury levels at the East Fork Poplar Creek, which runs through Y-12. When operational, the mercury plant will be able to treat 3,000 gallons of water per minute and include a 2-million-gallon storage tank to collect stormwater, DOE said in a recent news release.
