Deputy Secretary Turk Underscores EM’s Commitment to Communities

DOE remains committed to the communities near EM sites by developing and delivering solutions to cleanup challenges around the DOE complex.

“The Department of Energy, as the Secretary and I like to call it, is the ‘solutions’ department,’” Deputy Energy Secretary David M. Turk told the audience at the 2021 National Cleanup Workshop.

In providing solutions from an environmental management perspective, “we try to help these communities move on from the legacy of the past and look towards the future,” he said. “I personally feel a lot of fulfillment from that part of the work.”

The EM mission goes beyond cleanup to focus on working with communities on revitalization efforts, including job opportunities and growing industries such as clean energy.

“We have to do right by our communities,” Turk said. “We have to do cleanup in the way it should be done — with transparency, with justice in mind, and with looking towards the futures of our communities.”

Recent EM Successes

Turk highlighted EM successes, noting that the cleanup program has cleaned up 91 sites in 30 states and Puerto Rico, reducing the amount of land needed for active cleanup by 90% since the inception of the EM mission. He acknowledged the sacrifice of those who stepped up during the past year and a half to work under the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Just in this last year, we finished cleanup at Brookhaven National with the demolition of the iconic stack there,” Turk said of the cleanup site in New York state.

Turk also noted that EM processed record amounts of radioactive tank waste at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, which he recently visited.

“It was great to have a chance to come out and see for myself some of the terrific progress we’ve had there,” he said.

Turk pointed to other 2021 successes, including the demolition of all DOE-owned buildings at the Energy Technology Engineering Center in California and the teardown of the Biology Complex at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He noted that those accomplishments are important milestones for those communities.

Project Management Advances

Turk also discussed how advances in project management have enabled EM progress.

“The latest Saltstone Disposal Unit in Savannah River was completed eight months ahead of schedule and $32 million under budget,” he said.

DOE is on a partnership journey with its communities, including the DOE workforce, contractors, state, tribal, and local leaders, unions, regulators, and industry partners, Turk said.

He added that DOE leadership is eager to receive feedback.

“I’d rather hear about challenges as soon as we possibly can and work through them together in this partnership journey,” Turk said.

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