For Immediate Release
Contact: Fran Poda
fran.poda@ettp.doe.gov
(865) 241-6226
Oak Ridge, Tenn., January 18, 2012 – Contaminated debris and soil have been removed from trenches within a 60-year-old landfill adjacent to the K-25 cleanup project and a protective cover is being installed. The materials were removed to minimize the potential for future contamination of surface water and groundwater.
The 6.5-acre landfill, called K-1070-B, was used from the early 1950s to the mid 1970s to dispose of items such as equipment, materials, parts, and drums. URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR) completed shipments of materials for disposal from the landfill on Dec. 31, 2011, one month ahead of schedule and within budget.
The landfill consisted of six trenches, each excavated to about 15 feet deep, and approximately 20 feet of debris landfilled over the top of these trenches. The debris and soil in the trenches had already been excavated when UCOR arrived, and the materials were awaiting disposition. There were also two “hot spots,” which are focused areas of higher contamination levels. One had already been addressed; UCOR addressed the second one. The major contaminant is uranium.
The K-1070-B team has been working for over three years without any work-related injuries or illnesses – not even a first aid case.
“Eliminating these materials is a big step toward cleaning up that area of the ETTP project,” says Leo Sain, UCOR President and Project Manager. “Even more important, they did it safely. Our expectation is that employees work safely, and our job is provide them a workplace in which they can do that. These workers have completely embraced that goal.”
Materials were disposed of at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) and the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Nearly all of the material – 260 truckloads – met the acceptance criteria for on-site disposal and were sent to EMWMF. Three shipments were sent to the NNSS in Department of Transportation approved containers. All materials in these shipments meet NNSS acceptance criteria.
Work remaining, which has already started, includes grading and contouring of the site in preparation for the cover to be installed. Grading and contouring is expected to be complete later this month, with the cover to be completed in the spring. The cover will consist of gravel, clay, topsoil and grass.
UCOR is the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management contractor at the Oak Ridge Reservation. The company is responsible for deactivation and demolition of the K-25 facility, as 2
well as other cleanup activities at ETTP, the Y-12 National Security Site, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
