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).
Office of Environmental Management
July 16, 2024
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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.
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
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