Although the Environmental Protection Agency is taking a fresh look at the facility, the draft Record of Decision on a proposed 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is still expected later this month, a state spokeswoman said Friday.
“Currently it is on schedule and no extensions have been sought,” Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Kim Schofinski said in a Friday email to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
Publication of the document for the proposed Environmental Management Disposal Facility at the Oak Ridge Site, has been delayed several times by the DOE Office of Environmental Management with the most recent extension coming in December 2020.
President Joe Biden’s new leadership at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) paused its endorsement of the landfill while it reviewed a December 2020 decision by Trump administration EPA chief Andrew Wheeler on the extent of regulatory controls needed for radionuclide wastewater runoff into a tributary of Bear Creek.
An EPA spokesperson said by email late Friday there is no specific timetable for when the review will be done. Likewise, Virginia Dale, who chairs the Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation, said by email Friday she has heard no proposed timeline for the review. “However, we were told that EPA Administrator Michael Reagan is planning a trip to Oak Ridge sometime soon.”
The new landfill will take low-level radioactive waste from demolition of buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, DOE officials have said. During a May congressional hearing, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) said the existing landfill should be filled in 2027, largely with debris from buildings torn down at the former K-25 uranium enrichment complex.
During the same hearing, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the new landfill is important to continued cleanup of the DOE Oak Ridge property, which is also a Superfund site. At the same time, Granholm said concerns of state and community groups will be considered.
