August 6, 2002
Department
of Energy, State of Tennessee, and the Environmental
Protection Agency Sign Accelerated Cleanup
Plan Agreement for Oak Ridge
Major Step in Implementing
Accelerated Cleanup Plan
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Energy
(DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
and state of Tennessee officials have signed
an agreement for accelerated environmental
cleanup of the Energy Department's Oak Ridge,
Tenn., facilities. The Oak Ridge Accelerated
Cleanup Plan Agreement lays out the remaining
actions needed to finalize accelerated cleanup
plans and establishes specific milestones
for work to be completed in the next three
years.
"This agreement builds on DOE's commitment
embodied by the Letter of Intent to work with
states and other regulatory agencies to reduce
health risks and expedite environmental cleanup,"
said Jessie Roberson, Assistant Secretary
for Environmental Management. "With the
continued support of EPA and Tennessee, we
have a clear path forward for accelerating
risk reduction in Oak Ridge."
This Accelerated Cleanup Plan Agreement supplements
the Letter of Intent, signed on May 14, to
accelerate cleanup at the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Initiatives include completion of cleanup
work outlined in the Melton Valley Record
of Decision by 2006 and closure of the East
Tennessee Technology Park, a former gaseous
diffusion plant, by 2008. Remaining environmental
cleanup at Oak Ridge will be completed by
2015.
Some of the major activities to be completed
in the next three years include the following:
Removal of contaminated scrap metal, remediation
of two major areas of soil contamination,
and decontamination and decommissioning of
the K-29, K-31, and K-33 facilities at the
East Tennessee Technology Park; Completion
of capping activities at Solid Waste Storage
Area 4, plugging and abandonment of hydrofracture
wells, and decontamination and decommissioning
of the New Hydrofracture Facility in Melton
Valley; Removal of contaminated sediments
from the Main Plant Surface Impoundments and
completion of a groundwater engineering study
in Bethel Valley; Installation of a water
treatment system for contaminated surface
water at the Y-12 National Security Complex;
and Removal of contaminated material at the
Boneyard/Burnyard in Bear Creek Valley, located
west of Y-12.
Signing the agreement were Assistant Secretary
Roberson; Mike Holland, Acting Manager, DOE
Oak Ridge Operations; Justin Wilson, Deputy
to the Governor for Policy, State of Tennessee;
and Jimmy Palmer, Region IV Administrator,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
DOE is currently finalizing an implementation
plan that contains more detailed information
about the accelerated cleanup initiatives.
That plan, along with the Oak Ridge Accelerated
Cleanup Plan Agreement can be viewed at www.oakridge.doe.gov/newpages.html.
Media Contact:
Number: PR-02-158
