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Qiili III nil I iriiiirr in r	i
Tennessee Oversight Director Relies on Environmental Expertise

Oak Ridge-Pollution
Environmental Update. Spring
1992
Environmental Update
A Report from the U.S. Department of Energy
on Environmental Restoration activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation
OAK ridge r°0M
	OAK HIDGE PUDLIC LIBRARY	
Issue Five
Soring 1992
Earl Leming has been
involved in farming all his
life. He grew up on a farm in
Greene County, Tenn., and
still owns and operates a farm
near Greeneville with his
brothers. "It helps me relieve
the tensions of the job," he
said.
These days, Leming's job is
directing the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation's
Department of Energy (DOE) Oversight Office — a job
that draws on his environmental expertise, his leadership
abilities and his respect for the lands and streams of
Tennessee. "I've always had a strong attachment to the
land and water. Growing up on a farm where they were
so important probably had something to do with that,"
he said.
From Greene County, Leming moved to Memphis where
he received bachelor's and master's degrees in aquatic
microbiology from Memphis State University. Working
for the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department
gave Leming his first taste of environmental projects
involving air, ground and water pollution.
In This Issue
Elza Gate Cleanup Is Complete	2
Public Input Sought on K-25 Ponds Cleanup	3
Waste Reductions "Save" $7 Million	3
Contracts Awarded for K-25 Site Cleanup	4
EPA, State, DOE Sign Cleanup Agreement 	4
D&D Program Finishes First Full Year	5
CSX Investigation Getting Underway	5
DUVAS Technology Assists Environmental Monitoring	6
White Oak Creek Construction Begins	6
Property Owners Attend Workshops	7
But it was in 1968, after Leming began working for the
State of Tennessee that he first started knocking on Oak
Ridge doors. "I'll have to admit that they weren't real
open and friendly doors at the time," he said. The state
was then in the process of classifying streams and how
they were to be p rotected. Leming's stream classification
work brought him to Oak Ridge to look at the White Oak
and East Fork Poplar Creeks.
Only after passage of the federal Clean Water Act and a
1984 court decision that placed DOE under rules of the
federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
did the State of Tennessee begin playing a major role in
environmental policies at Oak Ridge. "In 1983, the
door opened for water monitoring and in 1984 for
hazardous waste monitoring, with DOE being treated
like any other source.... Those were big steps," Leming
said.
In May 1991, another environmental step was taken
when DOE and the State of Tennessee entered into an
agreement designed to assure Tennessee citizens that
their heal th, safety and environment are being protected.
Under the Tennessee Oversight Agreement, up to 88
full-time State employees will review DOE
environmental programs and monitoring of surface and
groundwater, fish and wildlife, and air quality both on
and off the 37,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation to assess
the impact of DOE operations on surrounding
communities. The Oversight Office recently opened on
Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge.
Leming said the state's preliminary findings indicate
that no immediate public health threats exist from
activities on the Reservation. Because material has been
released in the past, Leming said long-term exposure to
those materials, even with the benefit of dilution over
the years, could cause a potential risk to human health.
"We want to be certain that any human health risks are
resolved," Leming said. "One of our first goals is to
eliminate any uncertainties, especially off the
Reservation at places like East Fork Poplar Creek and

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2
R
Elza Gate Cleanup Is Complete
.adioactive contamination
and polychlorinated biphcnyls
(PCBs) have been cleaned up from
the Elza Gate site in East Oak Ridge,
now known as the Melton Lake
Industrial Park. The property will
soon be released to its owners with
no radiological restrictions on its use.
The Elza Gate property is part of
the U.S. Department of Energy's
Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial
Action Program (FUSRAP)
comprising properties that became
contaminated during the early days
of the government's nuclear program.
Elza Gate served as an unloading
and storage area for uranium ore
during World War II's Manhattan
Project and later for storage of
electrical equipment by DOE
predecessor agencies.
The year-long cleanup was
completed in two phases. The first
involved excavating contaminated
soils and concrete and placing them
in a temporary storage area at the
site. The second phase included
transporting 818 truckloads of the
contaminated materials to the United
Nuclear Corporation (UNC) waste
site at Y-12.
All Elza Gate soil and approximately
20 containers of radiologically and
asbestos-contaminated construction
debris have been placed at the UNC
site. To prevent erosion until capping
can begin this spring, the site has
been winterized with a 6-inch clean
soil layer, a plastic liner and straw
matting. Thecappingdesign has been
completed and issued to initiate the
capping construction bid process.
ii
Excavation during the Phase 2 cleanup of the Elza Gate site resulted in 818 truckloads of
contaminated material that have been permanently disposed of on the Oak Ridge Reservation at

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3
Public Input Sought on K-25 Ponds Cleanup
rea citizens will have a chance
late this summer to comment on a
proposed remedial action plan for closing
and capping two contaminated ponds at
the K-25 Site.
An exact date for the public comment
period for the K-1407-B Holding Pond
and K-1407-C Retention Basin will be
announced by the U.S. Department of
Energy in area newspapers. DOEproposes
to cover the ponds with impermeable
layers of clay to keep rainwater out of the
ponds. This will also prevent the spread
of contamination through airborne dust,
thereby reducing risk to human health
and the environment and complying with
federal environmental regulations.
Cleanup of K-25's B and C ponds will begin following a public comment period later this
summer.
Both ponds were contaminated with residues from uranium
enrichment processes at the K-25 Site, which DOE placed
in standby status in 1985. None of the contamination is
thought to have moved off the K-25 Site.
The 1-million-gallon K-1407-B Holding Pond was used as
a settling basin for sludges from wastewaters discharged
directly into thepond from plant processes. Contaminants
include uranium compounds, transuranics (radioactive
substances produced from uranium), organic degreasers,
oils and some PCBs. The pond was in use from 1943
until 1988.
The K-1407-C Retention Basin, with a capacity of 2.5
million gallons, was used from 1973 until 1988 to store
sludges dredged from the K-1407-B Holding Pond. All
contaminated sludges and the most highly contaminated
soils were removed from the ponds during the period from
1985-1987. Those sludges were solidified in concrete and
stored in drums, many of which are stored on an outdoor
asphalt pad at the K-25 Site (see related story on page 4).
Soil samples taken at the ponds show that hazardous
materials and volatile organics are not present at sufficient
(Continued on page 7)
Waste Reductions "Save" $7 Million
It's difficult to imagine something that isn't there.
However, picture a football field covered with more
than 27 feet of waste. Thai's one way to describe the
volume of waste nolonger produced at the Department
of Energy - Oak Ridge Field Office (DOE-OR) facilities
thanks to new waste reduction ideas.
Through efforts in 1990, DOE-OR has avoided more
than $7 million in waste processing costs. Such
substantial reductions were largely due to new or
improved methods developed by employees at K-25,
Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and at FUSRAP
remedial action sites. Employees at those sites helped
develop and implement improved methods for
generating, processing, and handling waste.
For their efforts, DOE Waste Minimization Awards
were presented to these employees during the final
quarter of 1991. Two specific projects that received
awards were the ORNL Plating Shop Water Recycle
Project, which will achieve a $1 million-per-year cost
avoidance, and the Y-12 Aluminum Nitrate Waste
Minimization Project, which will save $350,000 per
year in waste processing costs.
Since 1986, 53 projects nominated for DOE Waste
Minimization Awards have reported a combined total
cost avoidance of $88 million.
Nominations for 1991 DOE Waste Minimization
Awards will be solicited from DOE-OR contractors

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4
A
EPA, State, DOE Sign Cleanup Agreement
, n agreement among the U.S. Department of
Energy, Oak Ridge Field Office, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee Department
of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) establishes
an important link to expedite environmental cleanup
work in Oak Ridge.
The Federal Facility Agreement (FFA), signed by the
three parties in November 1991, establishes procedures
and schedules for developing and implementing
appropriate cleanup actions related to DOE activities at
the Oak Ridge Reservation to protect public health,
welfare and the environment. The FFA joins other
agreements among DOE, EPA and TDEC in creating a
framework of checks and balances for the Oak Ridge
environmental work.
The agreement spells out each agency's role in
implementing various regulatory requirements for
cleanup under the federal Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA) and other state and federal environmental
laws that apply to cleanup and waste management.
The goal of the FFA is to ensure that environmental
impacts associated with past and present activities at
the Oak Ridge Reservation are thoroughly investigated
and that the appropriate cleanup actions are taken. The
agreement also provides a means to verify that DOE has
completed all investigations, studies, remedial designs
and remedial actions required by state and federal law.
Contracts Awarded for
AK-25 Site Cleanup
bout $ 15 million in contracts has been awarded
by the U.S. Department of Energy to five companies to
correct hazardous waste storage problems at the K-25 Site.
These contracts include removing approximately 44,000
drums containing contaminatedsludges that are currently
stored on outdoor asphalt pads.
Sludges in the drums, both hazardous and radioactive,
were dredged from two former settling ponds at K-25. The
sludges were solidified in concrete when they were
removed from the K-1407-B & -C Ponds in the late 1980s
(see related story, page 3). The drums will be checked for
leaks, any water remaining in the drums will be removed,
and these will then be moved to indoor storage areas at K-
25. Any drums found to be leaking will be overpacked,
that is, placed inside a larger drum.
DOE expects to award a contract this spring to dewater
and repackage 32,000 drums of sludge that were not
solidified at the time of their removal. The water will be
treatedatexistingK-25watertreatmentsystems.Ameeting
was held this past September to receive public comments
on alternatives for resolving the drum storage problem,
which may eventually cost up to $69 million. The
remediation and storage plan chosen after the public
comment period ended will bring the site into compliance
with state and federal regulations for hazardous waste
storage.
Drums containing sludge contaminated with both radioactive and
hazardous materials are now being moved to indoor storage areas at

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5
Decontamination and Decommissioning Program Finishes First Full Year
M
JL ~ JLanyofthesitcs.buUdingsandequipment
located on the Oak Ridge Reservation are no longer
used for their original purposes. The Reservation
cleanup effort involves minimizing the potential
health and environmental risks of these facilities
through decontamination and decommissioning
(D & D) work.
The U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Field
Office's centralized D&D program is finishing its
first full year of managing six individual efforts in
Oak Ridge as well as at DOE plants in Paducah,
Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. The 108 facilities
in the D&D program include mercury-contaminated
equipment and structures, hot cells (areas where
highly radioactive materials have been handled),
experimental reactors, and uranium enrichment
equipment and structures.
Some of the D&D projects undertaken this year include
engineering design for the removal of about 9 miles of
asbestos insulation at the K-25 Site.
D&D work falls into three areas:
•	surveillance and maintenance activities,
involving structural repairs, inspections, and
radiological measurements to prevent or
minimize hazards until D&D work can begin;
•	decontamination and removal of hazardous
materials and cleanup of surfaces and equipment;
and
•	decommissioning (removing from service) and
disposal of equipment, monitoring to ensure
that environmental regulations are followed, and
transferring responsibility for the facility from
the D&D program to plant management.
T
JL h
CSX Railroad Investigation Getting Underway
he CSX Railroad Site in Oak Ridge has been
removed from the Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) for
cleanup. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) determined that the tracks, running from the Y-12
Plant east through Oak Ridge to the Warehouse District,
are not part of the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Cesium contamination, which was first detected along a
section of the track in 1986 during a radiological survey,
is thought to be a result of waste operations in Oak Ridge
during the 1960s. The most likely source of the
contamination is from materials being transported to the
Oak Ridge Reservation by railcar for disposal when the
reservation was routinely used to receive waste from other
sites. It does not pose a threat to human health.
If the site had remained on the FFA cleanup list, DOE
would have been required to conduct a Remedial
Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at the site as
specified by the federal Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. In an RI/FS,
which characterizes the type and extent of contamination
at a site and identifies alternatives for cleanup, a
comprehensive series of sampling and analysis activities
is needed.
DOE has reviewed the original plans and has outlined a
streamlined approach that accomplishes most of the same
objectives of the RI/FS to identify the proper alternative for
cleanup of the railroad bed. Sampling of the tracks will be
conducted to identify areas and extent of contamination,
and the information will be used to evaluate cleanup
alternatives. The final cleanup method will be selected
based on cost and technical merit. Field work along the
tracks is scheduled to begin later this year.
A public comment period will be held when the cleanup
evaluation is completed in August. After publiccomments
have been resolved, cleanup may begin before the end of
the year. Progress at the site will be regularly reported at
DOEpublicmeetings throughout theyearand in upcoming

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6
New Technology Assists Environmental Monitoring
A
JL JBl. new fiber optic probe and monitoring system
that provides fast, cost-effective and safe sampling of
groundwater contaminants may soon be used on the
Oak Ridge Reservation.
The portable, battery-powered fiber optic system, which
is based on a method known as Derivative Ultraviolet
Absorption Spectroscopy (DUVAS) developed by the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), can be used in
many routine measurement situations — such as for
detecting gas leaks at filling stations or for rapidly
evaluating the integrity of underground storage tanks
during property surveys.
Derivative Ultraviolet Absorption Spectroscopy - DUVAS - is a fiber
optic method for sampling groundwater contaminants.
~	
		White Oak Creek
JL n July construction was completed on the walls of a
sediment-retention dam at the mouth of White Oak Creek
Embayment. These walls, which are constructed of
interlocking steel sheets driven down into the bedrock,
are designed to prevent contaminated sediments from
being transported into the Clinch River.
"Once the walls were constructed, we had achieved our
goal of controlling the contaminated sediments," said
o 0
o oO
GROUNDWATER
Groundwater monitoring with fiber optic DUVAS.
DUVAS can detect and measure light hydrocarbons
(such as those found in solvents, gasoline, and other
fuels) at depths of up to 150 feet. The system's complete
spectral analyses, which are performed in less than 30
seconds, can reveal light, aromatic contaminants that
fall in the 100-parts-per-billion to 1000-parts-per-million
range. Also, heavy compounds such as naphthalene,
anthracene, and benzo(a)pyrene can be detected in the
100-parts-per-trillion (1/10-part-per-billion) to 1000-
parts-per-billion range.
Custom probes allow DUVAS to measure various levels
of contamination and fit into sampling wells of different
sizes, and the instrument can be further modified to
measure soil-gas concentrations.
As opposed to more conventional methods, DUVAS
eliminates the need for, and thus the uncertainties and
risks associated with sample collection, transportation,
storage and analysis preparation — and DUVAS is
expected to be more cost-effective than those methods.
	~
Bruce Kimmel, manager of the Clinch River environmental
restoration program. "Now it's just a matter of completing
construction on the dam."
In January, work began on the jet-grouting process that
will strengthen the dam. In this jet-grouting operation,
cement is injected below the water and streambed to
provide a concrete layer at the bottom of the dam next to
(Continued on page 8)

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7
Tennessee Oversight Director Relies on
Environmental Expertise
(Continued from page 1)
the Clinch River, places where people own land and
live." He said the state's intentions are to have the
Reservation restored to a level that will pose no threats
to human health, aquatic life or wildlife. "If the time ever
came that the Reservation wasn't controlled by DOE, we
want it to be safe enough to be used by the public,"
Leming said.
During the past few years, Leming has seen significant
changes both in attitudes and in practices at DOE and
Martin Marietta. "Everyone seems more willing to
make changes now." Leming said that on the local level
both DOE and Martin Marietta show a desire to
identify problems and to make the state a partner in
environmental decisions.
Although he expects the state's work at the Oak Ridge
facilities to go smoothly overall, Leming foresees areas
where the parties involved may not always see eye to
eye. "In the radiological area, DOE has always been self-
regulated, and that area has seen the greatest resistance
to change," he said. "But the state wanted no part of a
program where we were allowed to look at one area but
not another. What good would such an agreement be?"
It took almost two years of negotiations before DOE and
the state reached an agreement on radiological
monitoring — a feature that distinguishes it from
agreements in other states. Leming said representatives
from several states call often to ask questions about the
agreement. "I see this as another plus — that states are
talking to each other, not just about the agreement, but
about technologies, programs and ideas," Leming said.
"It's important for DOE to realize that we're talking and
making informed, consistent decisions. DOE has learned
a lesson in this agreement process — the importance of
involving states in major decisions."
Lemingsaid that developing good workingrelationships
with DOE, Martin Marietta and the public is one of his
most important goals. "But if we find it necessary to
switch to a more forceful form of compliance, we won't
hesitate.... We can't make light of this agreement. If we
do, it will be short-lived," he said. "And let's just say I
expect this to be a long-term agreement."
~	~
Public Input Sought on K-25 Ponds Cleanup
(Continued from page 3)
levels to pose a threat to human health and the environment.
Radioactive contaminants are present in amounts the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency considers "levels of
concern" for long-term exposure by workers at the site.
These contaminants do not now pose a threat to public
health, however.
The proposed remedial action involves removing water
from the ponds and filling them with gravel and soil. The
ponds will then be covered by a 24-inch clay cap, topped
by another 24 inches of soil, topsoil, mulch and grass.
Sloped surfaces and drainage systems will prevent water
from leaching into any contamination that may remain in
the ponds.
Public comments will be considered in the Record of
Decision for closure of the ponds, scheduled for mid-
summer of this year. Field work at the site should be
completed sometime in 1993.
~	~
Property Owners Attend Workshops
0
wners of property along East Fork Poplar Creek
had the opportunity last fall to attend workshops to
update them on sampling activities and to address their
concerns about contamination along the creek.
The November and December meetings in Oak Ridge gave
the landowners a chance to ask questions informally of
DOE and contractor technical representatives involved in
the East Fork Poplar Creek project. The creek, which runs
from the Y-12 Plant west through Oak Ridge to the K-25
Site, was contaminated principally with mercury from
past operations at Y-12.
The risk assessment process—how the level of threat to
human-health and the environment is determined—was
explained to the property owners to help them better
understand the cleanup alternatives proposed by DOE for
the creek.
In addition to small group meetings such as these, DOE
representatives are meeting individually with the owners
to discuss sampling results of each property as they

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8
White Oak Creek Construction Begins
(Continued from page 6)
the bedrock. "This process also minimizes the amount of
waste produced, since the sediments remain undisturbed,"
said Kimmel.
The dam will be capped with concrete, and a layer of rock-
filled wire baskets — gabions — will be placed on top of
the dam to minimize the surging of Clinch River water into
the Embayment.
White Oak Creek is the primary surface drainage system
for Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Embayment,
located between White Oak Lake Dam and the Clinch
River, was evaluated as part of the DOE environmental
restoration program.
Construction on the White Oak Creek
Embayment sediment-retention
structure is scheduled to be completed
mid-April.
During characterization of the Embayment's sediments,
higher than expected levels of cesium-137 were found
near the top of the sediment layer. Immediate steps were
taken to determine the best method to prevent
further erosion of the sediments, which can wash into the
Clinch River.
Kimmel explained that completion of the dam was
originally scheduled for December, but high water and
bad weather in the fall caused delays. "Now we're looking
at an April completion date," he said.
The Administrative Record, which contains the documents
on which the White Oak Creek Embayment remedial
action was based, is available for public review at DOE's
Information Resource Center, 105 Broadway, Oak Ridge.

A': I V-
LLI I ITT7
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Editor, Environmental Update
Community Relations Office
P.O. Box 2003
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-7298
^0

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USA
V>r:
c. A. Miller
Oak Ridge Public Library-
Civic Center
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
This Update has been printed on recycled and recyclable paper
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