The University of Tennessee's Center for Business and Economic Research has, for the second year, released its "Good News!" document outlining the economic benefits DOE brings to the state of Tennessee.

What this document tells us is that the Oak Ridge Reservation is a gorilla when it comes to impacts on the state's economy, adding an estimated $1.9 billion to the gross state product in federal fiscal year 1999 (Nov. 1, 1998, to Oct. 31, 1999). This kind of analysis was long needed to convince Nashville that DOE in Oak Ridge is more than just a radioactive-waste generating operation.

But Bad News lurks on the first page of the Executive Summary. In the words of the report's authors, "DOE's impact on personal income in the State of Tennessee totaled close to $1.2 billion in 1999, down slightly from $1.3 billion in 1998."

At the risk of quibbling over words, a $100 million shortfall is more than just a slight decline. The bulk of that impact is felt in Anderson, Roane and Knox Counties, with the City of Oak Ridge economy being relatively hardest hit.

To compare apples and sour grapes, let's look at data released by DOE for the 1998 and 1999 calendar years (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31). The accompanying table presents this information in a format that allows comparison of employment and salary by county for the LOC area.

Governmental unit	Employees (1998)1	Employees (1999)2	Jobs Lost	Percent Change
LOC Area	13,236	11,734	1,502	-11.3
Anderson County	4,061	3,547	514	-12.7
Knox County	5,615	5,010	605	-10.8
Loudon County	828	746	82	-9.9
Meigs County	79	72	7	-8.9
Morgan County	336	284	52	-15.5
Rhea County	42	37	5	-11.9
Roane County	2,275	2,038	237	-10.4
Total Employment 3	14,215	12,657	1,558	-11.0
City of Oak Ridge 4	2,683	2,484	199	-7.4
1 1998 figures do not capture employment by many of the subcontractors. 2 1999 figures do include employent by subcontractors. 3 Total employment includes all 20-plus counties where DOE-related employees live. 4 Employees in Oak Ridge are also counted in Anderson and Roane Couties.

It's important to note the following: 1998 figures do not capture employment by many of the subcontractors (this was a transition year for Bechtel Jacobs Company under its new management and integrating contract), but 1999 figures do include employment by subcontractors. This means that the actual number of jobs lost is greater than the data indicate.

Although the figures really speak for themselves, there are a few more pieces of information that help bring home the losses our region has suffered from DOE budget cuts. DOE, its contractors and its subcontractors bought local goods and services totaling $454.6 million in 1999, down $151.5 million from 1998-a 25 percent decrease. In addition, more than 26 percent of jobs on the Oak Ridge Reservation have been lost since 1996, when the total was 17,144.

Now, back to the "good news" document. Every job provided by DOE supports an additional 2.07 jobs in Tennessee. This means that, over the past year, DOE budget cuts led to the loss of 3,225 jobs on top of the 1,558 DOE-related jobs that were lost. And over the past three years, our region has lost 9,228 jobs in addition to the 4,487 DOE-related jobs that were lost. So, is this good news or bad news for our region? If governments in the greater Oak Ridge region continue to ignore the gorilla in their back yard, it will progressively waste away, taking local jobs and economic resources with it.

Bechtel Jacobs and job creation

By Susan Arnold Kaplan

When DOE gave Bechtel Jacobs Company the cleanup contract in Oak Ridge, the agency both obliged the company to transition workers from the previous contractor, Lockheed Martin, and included an economic development requirement-an important factor in calculating the company's award fee.

DOE thus turned a relatively straightforward process for tracking DOE-related jobs in Oak Ridge into a complex one.

Bechtel Jacobs committed to moving Lockheed Martin workers to itself and its subcontractors in order to perform cleanup work, estimating that about 90 percent of such work would be performed by subcontractors and transitioned employees. The company also committed to create $427 million in new non-DOE payroll, not counting transitioned jobs.

It is important that DOE be the party responsible for implementing a system that tracks all of these jobs, including the number of transitioned workers and their outcomes. DOE should provide for an independent assessment of Bechtel Jacobs' success in its regional job creation.

The Oak Ridge community needs to demand greater accountability to ensure that the regional impact of layoffs, transitions, and job creation-including the monetary value and location of the new jobs-is well understood and publicized.

(For additional information, see The Oak Ridge Employment and Housing Market Study-Looking Back to Help Choose a Path Forward, a report issued by KapLine Enterprises, Inc.)

Susan Kaplan chairs the CAP's Economic Transition and Work Force Issues Committee.

LOC opposes decisions by DOE's Richardson

The LOC Board has taken issue with two recent decisions by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson.

His moratoriums on releasing nickel and other scrap metals for recycling will disproportionately harm cleanup efforts on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), especially at ETTP. DOE is now precluded from pursuing an otherwise legal, cost-effective, and safe means of dealing with its huge quantities of scrap metal. Costs will rise by many tens-if not hundreds-of millions of dollars, and since additional money to offset the loss of these assets (and storage or disposal of the metals) is not likely to be allocated by DOE Headquarters, the cleanup schedule will end up being extended by years.

The LOC has posted copies of its correspondence to Secretary Richardson.

Hot Flashes

LOC gets DOE contact

In May LOC requested a formal point-of-contact with DOE, as has been done for the City of Oak Ridge Environmental Quality Advisory Board. In June Rod Nelson appointed Pat Halsey to this position. Ms. Halsey is the Federal Facilities Agreement Administrative Coordinator for DOE Oak Ridge Operations. She will bring better communications and exchange of information to our respective organizations.

5 renew CAP terms

July begins the new CAP membership year. Five CAP members were up for renewal of their three-year terms, and all chose to reapply. Thanks and congratulations to Al Brooks, Josh Johnson, Roger Macklin, Norman Mulvenon and Dick Paul-each brings a different perspective and different talents to the CAP.

EPA signs off on ROD

As reported in the May issue of Insights, EPA Region 4 refused to sign the Bear Creek Valley Record of Decision (ROD), citing a need for additional clarification (with more documentation, of course). Well, EPA finally joined DOE and TDEC in signing this important ROD on June 15, with no public fanfare. LOC applauds approval of thie ROD because it is the first to lay out the "big picture" cleanup strategy for any of the ORR watersheds.

State OKs TSCAI plan

The State of Tennessee approved the TSCA Incinerator Burn Plan on June 30, rescinding a rejection made 17 months ago. At that time the State restricted out-of-state waste for incineration as leverage to induce DOE to meet concerns about funding, equity, cleanup levels, disposal, stewardship, and health & safety. Progress and signed commitments in these areas opened the door for approval of the burn plan. This is an important step toward renewal of the RCRA Part B permit for the TSCA Incinerator.

Did you know?

... that Lower East Fork Poplar Creek does not flow through the Scarboro Community. It lies about a half-mile to the northeast of the residential neighborhood. Thus, the creek cannot have caused contamination of Scarboro soils.
... that chemical emissions from the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) incinerator historically have been about 0.6 percent of the maximum levels permitted by the State. Radiological emissions have been about 2.4 percent of the permitted level and about 0.6 percent of the local background.
... that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry conducted an exposure investigation of fishermen and families who eat the fish they catch in Lower Watts Bar Reservoir, testing 116 heavy fish consumers out of 550 individuals interviewed. The results were unexpectedly good. More than 99 percent of these had blood levels of PCBs and mercury that were very similar to levels found in the general population. Only one of the 116 tested had a PCB level higher than the general population distribution, and only one had an elevated mercury blood level.

Alphabet Soup

(Initials and acronyms to make this newsletter and other DOE-related documents easier to read)

CAP = LOC Citizens' Advisory Panel
DOE = Department of Energy
EPA = Environmental Protection Agency
ETTP = East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly the K-25 Site)
LOC = Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
M&I = management and integration
ORR = Oak Ridge Reservation
PCBs = polychlorinated biphenyls
ROD = Record of Decision
TDEC = Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
TSCA = Toxic Substances and Control Act
TSCAI = Toxic Substances and Control Act Incinerator

August 2000

Learning to bewarethe gorilla in our midst