HUIZENGA HAD BEEN LEANING TOWARDS K-25 PRESERVATION

Department of Energy cleanup chief David Huizenga said yesterday he had originally been supportive of a plan to preserve the north end of the K-25, the former gaseous diffusion at Oak Ridge. Historic preservation groups for years had lobbied to keep that portion standing, and during negotiations with DOE a hold had prevented major demo work on the north end. Last month DOE reached an agreement that will allow that section to be demolished. “We struggled back and forth for a while on whether we should actually try to preserve the old north tower of the building that the facility was in. Frankly, I was kind of leaning that way myself,” Huizenga said at a Environmental Management Advisory Board meeting. “But in the end we realized that just wouldn’t be safe. Those facilities were basically deteriorated to the point where we needed to think of the long term.” He explained, “I went and looked at the structural integrity of it and ultimately understood that wasn’t wise.”