Oak Ridge council urges action on DOE site treatment plan, warns schedule could slip into 2030s

The Oak Ridge City Council voted to transmit comments to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation urging the Department of Energy and state regulators to secure funding and keep the Oak Ridge site treatment plan on schedule for construction of a sludge‑treatment facility.

Council member Fitzgerald, speaking for the item, told the council that DOE headquarters previously canceled funding for the facility and that the plan's current schedule could push work into the early 2030s. "I learned at the public hearing the other night... DOE headquarters canceled this project in November of last year saying that there wasn't funding allocated for it," Fitzgerald said, adding that the city should press federal and state partners to request funding so the facility moves forward. Fitzgerald noted that some of the waste is transuranic and must be scheduled for disposal at national disposal sites.

Other council members said the issue appears budgetary rather than technical and urged the city to press congressional and executive branch contacts to prioritize funding. Council member Hope and others noted upcoming national cleanup workshops as opportunities for advocacy. Staff recommended the city transmit comments asking that DOE and TDEC prioritize funding and ensure the documentation needed to move the project into the federal critical‑decision process is complete; council approved the transmittal by voice vote.

The resolution does not impose a requirement on DOE but records the city's concerns and requests that the state and federal partners maintain resources and schedules to address the tanks and sludge stored at Oak Ridge.