Critics fume over out-of-state waste

Critics fume over out-of-state waste
By Frank Munger 11.11.96
News-Sentinel Oak Ridge bureau

OAK RIDGE — The Department of Energy plans to burn 2.9 million pounds of toxic waste at its Oak Ridge incinerator this federal year, which began Oct. 1. That's about the annual average.

What's unusual is the burn schedule includes shipments from Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and other states, and the influx of waste doesn't sit well with local environmentalists.

"That's outrageous," said Ralph Hutchison of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance.

"It's just plain wrong," said Janice Morrissey of Save Our Cumberland Mountains.

DOE's incinerator at the K-25 plant in Oak Ridge is the only facility in the United States licensed to burn certain types of wastes — those containing a mix of radioactive elements, hazardous chemicals and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The incinerator was built during the 1980s at a cost of $26 million, and full operations began in 1991.

For the first five years, DOE used the facility primarily to reduce the legacy of wastes stored at K-25 and other Oak Ridge plants. Now the federal agency has labeled the incinerator a "national resource" and wants to get rid of difficult-to-treat wastes stockpiled at sites around the country.

Bringing wastes to Oak Ridge is part of DOE's overall plan to share treatment and disposal facilities to solve mutual problems and avoid costly duplication of services. Federal officials are under pressure to complete their environmental cleanup work within the next decade.

Joy Sager, an environmental engineer at DOE's Oak Ridge office, said, "It's really going to be the only way to get the task done … in the taxpayer's best interests."

Earl Leming, who heads the state's environmental oversight office in Oak Ridge, said he generally supports the strategy because Tennessee will be sending wastes to other states for treatment and disposal.

"We're not an island unto ourselves," he said.