Enviro groups sue DOE, EPA over Oak Ridge landfill

Six environmental groups have sued the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over approval of a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at DOE’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a press release from the groups.

The plaintiffs are the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, Sowing Justice, Community Defense of East Tennessee, Foundation for Global Sustainability, Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association, and Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The plaintiffs are all represented by attorneys Terry Lodge and Wallace Taylor, according to the press release distributed by Beyond Nuclear.

Environmental groups filed a notice of intent to sue last September with the Department of Justice.

The lawsuit alleges the new landfill will contaminate waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) commonly referred to as the Superfund law.

In 2022, then- EPA Administrator Michael Regan approved DOE’s Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) landfill for burial of construction waste from demolition of mercury-laden structures at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The new landfill would replace an existing one that is nearly full following demolition of the old uranium enrichment facilities Oak Ridge.

Ground was broken almost two years ago by DOE contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) has called the project important to continuing environmental cleanup at Oak Ridge.