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Executive Summary

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is home to one of the largest and most diverse U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complexes in the nation. The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) was born of the Manhattan Project and nurtured by the Cold War, and its primary missions were to develop the materials and skills necessary to build the atomic bomb.

When they were first built, the three major facilities on the ORR--Y-12, K-25 and X-10--each had a distinct mission. Y-12 enriched uranium using an electromagnetic process, which was later abandoned in favor of the more efficient gaseous diffusion used at K-25. Y-12's primary mission became precision machining of special nuclear materials for bomb manufacturing. X-10, later known as Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), undertook weapons research and development, especially purification of plutonium.

Now these facilities have new missions. In addition to its defense mission, Y-12 disassembles nuclear weapons and stores highly enriched uranium. It has also been designated the National Prototype Center, in recognition of the unique expertise of its machinists.

K-25 has been renamed East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), and its goal is to complete cleanup necessary for transition to an industrial park. Surplus facilities at ETTP are being leased to private industry under a plan known as "reindustrialization." ORNL undertakes research and development in a wide variety of scientific fields; it is widely known for its contributions to neutron science and is the location for the Spallation Neutron Source, currently under construction.

Mission-related activities on the ORR have not been without a price. For more than 50 years, radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes have been buried, poured into ponds and streams, burned, and discharged into the air. The resulting contamination affects about 15 percent of the Reservation's area and has migrated offsite via air, groundwater and surface streams.

Tennessee Oversight Agreement

The State of Tennessee was concerned about pollution produced at the Oak Ridge Reservation and its potential impacts on public health and the environment. In response to this concern, the State and DOE entered into the Tennessee Oversight Agreement (TOA) in 1991. The TOA obligates DOE to provide technical and financial support to the State for activities in four major areas: environmental restoration, environmental monitoring and oversight, emergency response and preparation, and public outreach.

A second legal document, the Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA), was signed in 1992 and established a formal relationship between the State, DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Under the FFA, the three parties agree to objectives and timetables that DOE must meet to ensure that cleanup on the ORR is carried out according to plan.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) created the Division of DOE Oversight (the Division) to implement the State's responsibilities under these two agreements. The Division has five program sections: Environmental Monitoring and Compliance, Environmental Restoration, Radiological Monitoring and Oversight, Waste Management, and Administration.

Local Government and Citizen Involvement

The State and the Division have long believed that the community should participate in the difficult decisions regarding environmental restoration of the ORR. Under the TOA, the State provides a grant to the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc., (LOC).

The State and the Division have long believed that the community should participate in the difficult decisions regarding environmental restoration of the ORR.

The LOC serves as an independent multi-jurisdictional forum that allows local governments to provide advice to DOE and the regulatory agencies. In place since 1991, the LOC added a Citizens' Advisory Panel in 1995 to enable interested citizens to study the issues in depth and make recommendations to the LOC Board.

The Division also supports DOE's official advisory board, the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB), and holds an ex officio seat on the ORSSAB. This board was created in 1995 and is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Local governments also have boards concerned with the local environmental effects of DOE activities. The City of Oak Ridge Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the Roane County Environmental Review Board routinely examine DOE's environmental decisions.

The widespread availability of electronic mail and the Internet have made near-instantaneous dissemination of complex information an everyday event. Many involved groups maintain Web sites and communicate via e-mail and listservers regarding environmental issues on the ORR. TDEC and its Division of DOE Oversight use the power of the Internet to full advantage.

Major Findings

It is the Division's findings, based on its independent monitoring and oversight of DOE, that there are no immediate threats to public health from current activities on the ORR. However, the potential for harm does exist if surveillance or maintenance lapses occur and cleanups fail to progress. Dangerous materials such as uranium hexafluoride, highly enriched uranium, mercury, metallic lithium, and uranium-233 remain in storage. DOE must ensure that current operations maintain the integrity of controls on these materials. The on-site storage inventory of ORR legacy waste continues to grow, and off-site waste disposal issues have only recently been resolved. In addition, most of the poor waste disposal practices of the past have yet to be remedied, resulting in the continuing migration of contaminants off the Reservation. These sites, which act as sources for current soil, groundwater, and surface-water contamination, must be cleaned up or safely and permanently controlled.

DOE continues to release low levels of contaminants to the air and water from legacy sites that are being remediated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). DOE continues its self-regulated storage, treatment and disposal of solid and liquid low-level radioactive waste. DOE operates under permits granted by the State and EPA for hazardous waste, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) waste, mixed waste, solid waste, water and air emissions. The Division monitors these activities to ensure that DOE remains in compliance. The results thus far indicate that DOE's current operations typically meet state and federal requirements, as well as DOE self regulation requirements, and do not pose health risks to the public.

Reindustrialization of ETTP is an avenue by which DOE has hoped to accelerate the cleanup of usable buildings and bring new jobs to Oak Ridge. The Division supports these goals, but it is committed to ensuring that reindustrialization does not interfere with mandated progress on site cleanup and does not pose a health hazard to private sector workers or the public.

Key Issues and Challenges

Today's cooperative relationship between DOE, EPA and the State of Tennessee evolved from a difficult situation in 1983. Massive quantities of mercury, released for years from Y-12, were discovered to have polluted East Fork Poplar Creek, which runs through downtown Oak Ridge. State enforcement actions and federal court decisions forced a reluctant DOE to begin complying with federal and state laws and regulations.

The current partnership between these three entities is based on open communication, mutual respect for the different interests of each party, and the shared desire to accomplish site cleanups. This relationship includes periodic meetings between senior management at Oak Ridge Operations, EPA Region 4, and the Division to resolve policy issues.

Progress has been made in the past few years. The Lower East Fork Poplar Creek floodplain has been cleaned up, numerous other sites have been closed, and other significant milestones have been achieved. DOE has reached an agreement with the State to provide a state-held trust fund for long-term care of the planned on-site Environmental Management Waste Management Facility. However, many challenges remain--predictably, these are the most difficult to address. They include the following:

• Ensuring funding practically "forever" to maintain waste disposal areas and other sites that cannot feasibly be cleaned up and, therefore, cannot be accessible to the public
• Addressing public anxieties over contamination from the Oak Ridge Reservation and health problems it may have caused to workers and residents
• Ensuring that the federal government remains committed in the long term to providing adequate resources for cleanup on the ORR
• Ensuring that cleanup at ETTP doesn't get lost in the rush to "reindustrialize" the facility
• Obtaining reasonable standards that allow contractors at ETTP to recycle tools and other materials from the site
• Continuing to improve the Division's efforts to monitor the regional environment and assure residents of their safety
• Finding adequate funding to dispose of waste stored on the ORR
• Obtaining fair and adequate funding for DOE's cleanup program in Oak Ridge

Download the report in PDF format (1.1MB).

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