OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Crews in Oak Ridge broke ground on a new landfill expansion due to the amount of contaminated soil being received from ongoing cleanup projects at the East Tennessee Technology Park.
United Cleanup Oak Ridge began expanding Landfill V at the Oak Ridge Reservation Landfills, according to releases from UCOR and the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.
The expansion will increase disposal capacity and also extend the life of the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF), an important on-site disposal facility for low-level contaminated waste.
The Oak Ridge Reservation Landfills have seen a 170% increase in waste receipts over the last five years. OREM and UCOR have been ramping up cleanup efforts at Y-12, ORNL, and the East Tennessee Technology Park, which used to enrich uranium from the World War II Manhattan Project through 1985.
The $550-million project will provide a new onsite disposal facility that is essential for OREM and UCOR to maintain environmental cleanup momentum at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
“Because of what we are doing here today, legacy cleanup will continue in Oak Ridge for the next 30 or 40 years until it’s complete”, said Fleischmann, “That means that Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be able to take down excess facilities. That means that our friends at NNSA will be able to do the critical work on our nuclear arsenal to keep our country safe.”
OREM said it will dispose of sanitary, industrial and construction waste in Landfill V, while sending the low-level contaminated waste to EMWMF.
“This expansion is a critical step toward ensuring UCOR’s ability to support the current and future cleanup needs for years to come,” says UCOR Landfill Operations Project Manager Josh Pemberton. “A combined staff of 30 UCOR and CTI employees has proactively been planning and working to achieve this milestone for the past year and a half.”
UCOR said the expansion project should be finished by the end of 2023.
