The Energy Department has scheduled a public information meeting for 5 p.m. today on the new Environmental Management Disposal Facility planned for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.
The Energy Department is proposing a 2.2 million-cubic-yard landfill site on federal land in Bear Creek Valley, according to a notice for the 90-minute meeting at the East Tennessee Economic Council Building in Oak Ridge.
The new landfill would replace the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) near the Y-12 National Security Complex. The current 2.2-million-cubic yard site, which opened in 2002, is 75 percent full and expected to run out of space in a few years. It takes various waste from cleanup of Y-12, the East Tennessee Technology Park, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
The new facility is laid out in a plan to provide more on-site disposal for waste resulting from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) work at the Oak Ridge Reservation. While remediation is nearing completion at ETTP, cleanup at the other sites will take decades and generate significant waste, DOE has said.
The Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board wants a new landfill built two years before the old one, also in the Bear Creek Valley, runs out of room, in the early to mid-2020s.
A public comment period on plans for the new landfill is scheduled to continue through Oct. 26. Comments can be made by email to John.Japp@orem.doe.gov.
Knoxville, Tenn.-based Strata-G LLC landed a $1 million contract earlier this year to conduct sampling for the new on-site disposal facility at Oak Ridge. The firm was doing samples on groundwater, su rface water, and soil samples to help determine if the site is suitable for the new waste facility.
Published reports have indicated a record of decision on the new landfill site could be issued in late 2018 or early 2019 by DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.