Oak Ridge Sets Sights on New Development After Achieving Vision 2024

Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Manager Jay Mullis speaks at the Vision 2024 celebration. He is joined on stage, from left, by U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Senior Advisor Candice Robertson; U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Federal Sites National Program Manager Greg Gervais; EPA Region 4 Division Director Caroline Freeman; Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers; Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch; Roane County Executive Wade Creswell; Kairos Power Chief Technology Officer Ed Blandford; and UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR last week celebrated achieving Vision 2024, the culmination of 20 years of cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).

This effort - one of the nation's largest environmental cleanup projects - transformed a former Manhattan Project and Cold War-era uranium enrichment complex into a multiuse industrial park.

Congressional, state, and local leaders, private industry, and top officials from the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined OREM and UCOR to mark the end of major fieldwork at ETTP.

"Our progress has transformed the site from an unusable liability into an economic asset for the Oak Ridge community," OREM Manager Jay Mullis said.

That was made possible through extensive demolition and soil excavation. Crews completed the teardown of all 500 buildings at ETTP in 2020. Since then, they've been busy removing building slabs and soil impacted by previous operations beneath the footprint of the former structures.

Initial estimates indicated approximately 100,000 cubic yards of soil would require excavation but increased as work progressed. By the end of the project, workers had removed and disposed of more than 554,000 cubic yards of soil, equaling nearly 50,000 dump truck loads.

"We are proud to have kept the project on schedule despite the increased work needed to address the additional excavation," said UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter. "As with any cleanup or remediation project, maintaining flexibility, planning for the unexpected, and approaching each project with a focus on safety and efficiency has allowed us to successfully complete this work and provide continued benefit to the American taxpayer."

An aerial view of the East Tennessee Technology Park following the completion of all demolition and soil remediation projects at the former uranium enrichment complex.

With soil remediation now complete, a DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) 2024 priority, DOE can transfer the remaining federally owned parcels of land at the site to the community for beneficial reuse.

"As we execute our mission, we are increasingly focused on the future of those who live near our sites in communities," said EM Senior Advisor Candice Robertson. "The historic transformation of ETTP is a part of a visionary approach that's not only focused on cleaning up the environmental legacy of the past, but also creating opportunities for modernization, beneficial reuse and economic growth."

To date, OREM has transferred more than 1,700 acres of land to the community to help attract and generate new economic development for the region, and it is turning over hundreds of more acres in the coming year. Twenty-five private businesses have located or announced plans to build on these parcels, bringing in $1.35 billion in investments and generating an anticipated 1,400 jobs.

Kairos Power is the newest company to locate on land the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management transferred to the community for economic development. The company recently began construction on its Hermes demonstration reactor facility. Its $100 million investment will bring 55 jobs to the site.

The focus of many of these recent industrial development efforts has been clean energy technology. Among those, Kairos Power began construction last month on its Hermes low-power demonstration reactor. The company's $100 million investment will bring 55 jobs to the site.

This site's evolution has garnered this year's Superfund National Priorities List Award as part of EPA's annual National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards. The awards highlight the accomplishments of federal agencies, states, tribes, local partners, communities and developers in restoring and reusing once-contaminated land at federal facilities.

"We are excited to announce that the East Tennessee Technology Park is one of this year's recipients of the National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards, recognizing the dedication and hard work on the part of our partner agencies and so many other people and organizations that went into remediating and transforming this site into a multiuse technology park that will benefit the community and the region," said Caroline Freeman, director of EPA's Superfund and Emergency Management Division in Region 4.

Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor UCOR completed all soil remediation projects at the East Tennessee Technology Park this summer. Crews excavated soil that filled nearly 50,000 dump truck loads from the site to complete this phase of cleanup.

EPA created the National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards to recognize exceptional work remediating a federal site for its beneficial use and creating positive impacts to the community.

With soil remediation complete, OREM and UCOR will conduct groundwater and surface water remediation, the final cleanup tasks to complete EM's mission at ETTP.

-Contributor: Ben Williams