  Trustee Council members, comprised of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Tennessee Valley Authority, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, look on as OREM Manager Jay Mullis, left, and TDEC Commissioner David Salyers sign a $42 million agreement to fund local natural resources and recreation projects.
Agreement funds local natural resources and recreation projects
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) signed a $42 million agreement last week to complete work intended to restore natural resources from the impacts of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) historic operations on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
The agreement to carry out the Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration process aims to restore natural resources and replace natural resource services equivalent to what was lost. DOE’s sites on the Oak Ridge Reservation date back to the Manhattan Project in the early 1940s, and contamination occurred over the years that impacted natural resources in the region.
A trustee council comprised of representatives from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Valley Authority and OREM evaluated how natural resources were injured and developed a restoration and compensation plan.
All funds from the $42 million agreement will be deposited into an account held by the State of Tennessee to provide grants for a wide range of local projects that either enhance the area’s natural resources or provide nature and recreational opportunities.
“This is one of the most notable days in our office’s history,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said. “Through this agreement, DOE is accounting for past impacts and creating many new opportunities to enhance how residents can enjoy this beautiful region.”
Local projects eligible for grants must be in one of five categories: habitat creation, habitat restoration or enhancement, habitat preservation, groundwater, or recreation.
Grant applications do not require a minimum value and can go as high as millions of dollars for projects in the Oak Ridge area.
“TDEC is pleased to see this agreement finalized and we eagerly anticipate projects that will support these local communities,” TDEC Commissioner David Salyers said. “This funding will protect the natural resources in the area as well as go towards outdoor recreational opportunities for Tennesseans, creating a more balanced and healthy environment for all.”
Examples of applicable projects include clearing away abandoned parking lots to plant native vegetation, removing invasive species, land conservation, installing streets and parking lots with permeable pavements to improve rainwater infiltration, and septic conversions.
Projects also can improve public use of natural resources, such as building or improving boat launches and fishing piers, purchasing and restoring land with public access to water, and creating public hiking and biking trails or wildlife viewing areas.
In an earlier phase, the trustees focused on DOE’s impacts to resources in Watts Bar Reservoir, located on the Tennessee River in east Tennessee. In 2009, they determined the terms of an agreement that entailed DOE establishing a 3,000-acre conservation easement and funding projects to improve recreational fishing access and opportunities.
This current second phase focuses on the balance of the Oak Ridge Reservation.
-Contributor: Ben Williams
 CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley team members at the West Valley Demonstration Project stand behind newly purchased electronic equipment that meets EPEAT standards. Pictured from left: Regulatory Strategy Manager Elizabeth Lowes, Contract Specialist Cheryl Pavone, Regulatory Strategy Principal Environmental Regulatory Specialist Julie Sansone, President Jason Casper, Senior Subcontract Administrator Paul Carlone and Subcontract Staff Specialist Michelle Schweickert.
Six U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) sites are among a group of award winners who collectively cut greenhouse gas emissions last year by more than 565,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, which equates to taking 121,000 average U.S. passenger cars off the road for a year.
EM winners of the 2024 EPEAT Purchaser Award include the:
The annual EPEAT Purchaser Awards honor organizations demonstrating outstanding leadership in and commitment to sustainability by procuring EPEAT registered products. The awards highlight the substantial impacts resulting from prioritizing environmentally responsible purchasing. EPEAT stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool.
“EPEAT has been instrumental in helping the DOE Office of Environmental Management achieve our sustainability goals by providing a reliable standard for sustainable electronics procurement,” said Jeanne Beard, chief information officer and director of Information Systems for EM. “Through EPEAT's rigorous criteria and global recognition, we have significantly reduced our environmental footprint and promoted responsible purchasing practices across our projects. Our field site participation in this program is especially noteworthy in that it is voluntary and reflects well on their continued commitment to the cleanup mission.”
EPEAT is an ecolabel for the electronics sector that helps purchasers, manufacturers, resellers and others buy and sell environmentally preferable electronic products such as computers, displays, imaging equipment and mobile phones that have been independently verified to meet its criteria. EPEAT is owned and operated by the Global Electronics Council, a nonprofit that advocates for purchasing practices that improve the environment.
In addition to greenhouse gas emissions reduction, 2024 EPEAT Purchaser Award winners collectively reduced:
- 2,133 gigawatt-hours of energy, comparable to the annual electricity consumption of 175,000 average U.S. households;
- 400 metric tons of hazardous waste, equivalent to the weight of 3,300 refrigerators; and
- 4.4 billion liters of water consumption, saving enough to fill 1,756 Olympic sized swimming pools.
The 2024 EPEAT Purchaser Awards virtual ceremony will be held July 25.
-Contributor: David Sheeley
 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery provided the keynote address for the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) Savannah River Federal Business Opportunities Forum in North Augusta, S.C.
AIKEN, S.C. — U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery recently visited North Augusta, S.C. to provide the keynote address for the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) Savannah River Federal Business Opportunities Forum.
In his address, Avery provided updates on business opportunities across the EM complex, workforce development, clean-energy initiatives, educational outreach, and continued partnerships with industry leaders.
“The long-standing partnership between EM and industry is key to the progress we have realized over the last 35 years - and what we are on track to achieve going forward,” said Avery. “We will continue to rely on our industry partners, large and small, as we maintain a steady beat of progress and open new opportunities for future missions.”
ETEBA is a non-profit trade association representing over 200 small, mid-sized and large companies and affiliate members providing environmental, technology, energy, engineering, construction and related services to government and commercial clients.
During his visit, Avery toured the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) where he engaged with regional wildlife and met with laboratory personnel to discuss educational outreach programs and ongoing research initiatives.
EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, center, tours the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) with DOE-Savannah River Operations Office Deputy Manager, Edwin Deshong. SREL is home to adult and juvenile alligators as part of ongoing research efforts. |
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EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, center right, and SREL Director Dr. Olin ‘Gene’ Rhodes, center left, engage with laboratory staff and students. SREL offers numerous opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in environmental science and related fields. |
EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, center right, visits with ‘Stumpy,’ a resident adult alligator at SREL since the early 1980’s. |
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SREL, a research unit of the University of Georgia, located on the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, S.C., provides independent evaluation of the impact of SRS operations on the environment to the public and the DOE through research, education and outreach.
- Contributors: Eleanor Prater, James “LJ” Gay, and Katie Miller
 Tim Fralix, left, and Clint Dietsch, drone pilots for the Paducah Site, launch a drone from the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Plant to provide live streaming video to the Emergency Operations Center. Photo by Nathan Lange.
PADUCAH, Ky. — Drones are undergoing testing to support emergency response at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s (EM) Paducah Site.
EM recently integrated drones into an exercise to support emergency responders and provide a live video feed of conditions to the site’s Emergency Operations Center. During the exercise, employees used drones for surveying, thermal imaging and potential search-and-rescue operations.
“It’s exciting any time we can implement a new technology to improve and support the DOE mission,” EM Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) Manager Joel Bradburne said. “The ability to assess and get real-time feedback in the Emergency Operations Center is invaluable to our emergency response organizations and is a great example of integration at the Paducah Site.”
During the exercise, drone pilots and emergency responders familiarized themselves with the deployment and operation of the drone in the field and successfully provided a live streaming video of the exercise to the center and command post to deliver valuable information in the event of a real emergency.
“Any time we can incorporate new tools into our emergency response capabilities, it is a benefit to our emergency responders,” PPPO Emergency Management Analyst Scott Baird said. “Communication is critical during a response and the drone deployment provides the ability to gather and share information quickly from a unique perspective for the field and our Emergency Operations Center.”
Multiple organizations at the site, including aviation experts, engineering, site operations, cybersecurity and emergency management, spent weeks preparing for the inclusion of drones in the exercise.
-Contributor: Dylan Nichols
New mechanical manipulators will support tank waste analysis and the Hanford Site’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Program.
RICHLAND, Wash. — The Hanford Site’s 222-S Laboratory, operated by contractor Navarro-ATL, is upgrading the specialized equipment personnel use to safely handle and analyze samples to support cleanup operations across the site.
Cleanup operations include the safe storage, retrieval and treatment of millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from large underground tanks. The entire site continues to prepare for treating tank waste continuously under the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Program.
“Sampling tank waste plays an important role in the Hanford Site’s strategic cleanup mission,” Hanford Tank Waste Operations Assistant Manager Delmar Noyes said. “Upgrading equipment is critical to the 222-S Laboratory’s ability to process more samples to assist DFLAW efforts and support 24/7 operations.”
Crews will upgrade the lab’s mechanical manipulators that workers use to remotely handle radioactive samples while looking through shielded glass. The upgrade will improve efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.
“Our older equipment is not as functional as it used to be and takes more and more effort for lab personnel to move the manipulators,” said Rob Schroeder, Navarro-ATL Analytical Operations director. “These new manipulators will improve reliability in the lab and will be more cost-effective moving forward.”
The laboratory began operating in 1951 and supported Hanford’s plutonium production operations through the end of the 1980s. After the Cold War, lab functions evolved to analyzing the physical and chemical characteristics of samples to support cleanup work.
 EMTV: Watch the takedown of Waste Management Facility 698 by U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management crews at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management crews recently demolished another steel-framed, fabric-covered building at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex’s Subsurface Disposal Area at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. Just three buildings remain on the 97-acre Cold War-era landfill, following removal of this former waste storage building.
Accelerated Retrieval Project (ARP) VIII will be the next to come down this summer, followed by ARP IX and VII in late summer through fall, respectively. The ARP enclosures, nine in all, were used to exhume targeted buried wastes from a combined area of the landfill of 5.69 acres. Following their demolition, debris from each building is covered with gravel and left in place.
The final cleanup remedy for the Cold War-era landfill is construction of an earthen cover, which will protect the underlying Snake River Plain Aquifer, the second largest aquifer in the U.S.
-Contributor: Erik Simpson
 An aerial view of progress on the Environmental Management Disposal Facility footprint. Crews moved Bear Creek and Haul roads, and cleared the area to conduct a groundwater field demonstration.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR hosted more than 50 guests on a guided tour to observe progress on the construction of the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF).
EMDF is a vital piece of infrastructure that will provide the waste disposal capacity OREM needs to complete cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Guests took a bus tour through the construction site, traveling on roads rerouted to accommodate the new facility. The new routes were part of early site preparations completed in May.
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Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) Manager Jay Mullis speaks to tour participants about the importance of the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, and OREM’s commitment to outreach and education on the project. |
The first phase of the project was completed $10 million under budget and six months ahead of schedule.
The tour offered guests a view of the project’s scale, completed work and current activities. Participants disembarked from the bus on the EMDF footprint for an informational session hosted by OREM and UCOR subject matter experts. Those experts provided in-depth project information and progress details, with the facility as the backdrop.
“When we started this project, we committed to providing regular updates and outreach to the community,” said Jay Mullis, OREM manager. “With fieldwork progressing, we thought it would be a great opportunity for people to get a firsthand perspective of the project and have a chance to ask questions directly to the team.”
 More than 50 community members, stakeholders, regulators and others participated in a guided tour and information session about the Environmental Management Disposal Facility project.
Leadership and representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation were also on hand for the tour and witnessed the results of their collaboration on the project.
Work is underway on the project’s second phase, known as the groundwater field demonstration. The purpose is to understand how groundwater levels adjust following construction of the landfill. The study will span two wet seasons to capture data to help inform and finalize EMDF’s design on the bottom elevation of the landfill.
Field work began on that phase in February, and monitoring of groundwater elevations is scheduled to begin in December.
EMDF is slated for completion in 2030.
-Contributor: David Barton
 RICHLAND, Wash. — Control room personnel monitor systems at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant after recently adding the first batch of “tuning feed” to one of the plant’s large melters. The feed combines powdered glass-forming materials, water and sodium hydroxide and supports testing processing equipment in the plant’s Low-Activity Waste Facility. The testing is an important step in preparing to vitrify, or immobilize in glass, millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from Hanford’s large underground tanks.
 CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV) team members display the West Valley Demonstration Project’s Environmental Management System Program certificate for recertification by the International Organization for Standardization. Pictured from left are Communications and External Affairs Manager Joseph Pillittere; Regulatory Strategy Manager Elizabeth Lowes; Regulatory Strategy Principal Environmental Regulatory Specialist Julie Sansone; and CHBWV President Jason Casper.
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. — The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has recertified the West Valley Demonstration Project’s Environmental Management System, a management practice that allows organizations to conduct work in a systematic manner to minimize impacts of operations on the environment.
“The West Valley Demonstration Project conducts its work in a safe, compliant and cost-effective manner by integrating environmental requirements and pollution prevention into our work planning and execution,” U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) West Valley Technical Services Assistant Director Jennifer Dundas said. “We also take actions to minimize the environmental impacts of our operations.”
An independent, non-governmental international organization, ISO is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards. The organization recertified West Valley under its prime contractor, CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV). An auditor on behalf of ISO commended West Valley for its engaged leadership team, excellent communication program and knowledgeable program managers and staff.
The standard for the Environmental Management System offers a structured approach to pressing concerns such as climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion, according to ISO. Organizations that adopt the standard signal a commitment to regulatory compliance and ongoing environmental improvement, which can result in tangible benefits, such as reduced waste, energy conservation and cost savings.
The ISO standard for West Valley’s Environmental Management System requires greater accountability from leadership, involves more proactive environmental initiatives, expects improved communication both internally and externally, and entails more rigorous environmental risk evaluations. In addition, it employs policy development, planning, implementation, checking and corrective action, and management review to achieve its environmental and operational goals.
“This is a team effort that involves all site organizations as we strive to go above and beyond compliance and continuously improve our processes and operations to minimize environmental impacts,” CHBWV Regulatory Strategy Manager Elizabeth Lowes said. “We are committed to performing our work in a safe and environmentally sound manner, and integrating safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements into everything we do.”
-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere
RICHLAND, Wash. — Crews with U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) designed a unique and challenging scenario to test the effectiveness of emergency response during the Hanford Site’s recent Annual Field Exercise.
This year’s exercise began with a tornado that touched down on the Hanford Site, causing power outages, damaging buildings and launching a Hanford Patrol vehicle into a waste storage area.
Lasting nearly seven hours, this “severe event exercise,” required once every five years, presented a longer and more complicated scenario than normal. The exercise included simulating two separate releases of hazardous materials, which required emergency classification and participation from across the One Hanford team and from several outside agencies.
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Hanford Site employees in the Joint Information Center answered realistic questions called in by a mock media team from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory during a recent emergency exercise. |
Hanford Site firefighters, along with radiological control technicians with contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company, practiced removing protective gear during a recent field exercise. |
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A Hanford Fire response team simulated wrapping and loading a contaminated and injured worker in an aid car during a recent field exercise. |
HMIS’ Emergency Management & Preparedness team spends months crafting the scenario, objectives, guidelines and timeline. The team recruits personnel to act in the various emergency response roles they’ve been trained in, as well as controllers, evaluators and observers who ensure the response follows Hanford’s emergency plan and procedures.
Hanford Mission Support Assistant Manager Brain Harkins acted as the EM representative in the Hanford Emergency Operations Center during the exercise.
“This was an opportunity for hundreds of people on the Hanford Site, and even in the community, to put our training to the test,” said Harkins. “Emergency exercises help us fine-tune our skills and identify opportunities for improvement. The teamwork displayed during this event is an excellent example of a successful One Hanford collaboration.”
-Contributor: Reneé Brooks
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