The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) has identified five priorities in fiscal 2019 for cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
The fiscal 2019 plan targets continued mercury cleanup in East Poplar Creek; groundwater monitoring; future waste disposal capacity (including trust fund maintenance); excess facilities disposition — including removal of equipment that’s not grossly contaminated; and plan and commence cleanup of remaining debris, trash, and unwanted items left over from EM cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park.
The advisory board is a federally appointed citizens’ panel that provides independent advice and recommendations to DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM). The group makes its cleanup requests to DOE far in advance of the targeted term – fiscal 2019 begins on Oct. 1, 2018.
The board urged OREM to seek sufficient funding to sustain the cleanup projects. “Also, when additional funds from suitable plus-ups and savings become available, it recommends that these funds be targeted for these projects.”
Oak Ridge was home to uranium enrichment operations for national security during the Manhattan Project and Cold War. Cleanup is ongoing at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the former uranium enrichment site now called the East Tennessee Technology Park. The environmental remediation prime is URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR).
Oak Ridge environmental management would receive $390.2 million in fiscal 2018 under DOE’s latest budget proposal. That would be a reduction of over $78 million from the enacted budget for fiscal 2016.
