This brochure has been prepared in answer to the wide-spread allegation that the residential areas of Oak Ridge have been badly contaminated by the Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear facilities that lie within its borders

NO! We DO NOT Glow in the Dark

Is Oak Ridge a Safe Place to Live?

Yes, It Is And Here Is Why.

Prepared by:

Oak Ridge Environmental Justice Committee

More information on:

http://home.comcast.net/~brooks50/
http://www.orcc.org/
http://orserv01.ci.oak-ridge.tn.us/eqab/ORENVWEB.HTM
http://orserv01.ci.oak-ridge.tn.us/oakridge.htm

These pages adapted from a three-fold brochure.

Contamination in the City of Oak Ridge

This brochure has been prepared in answer to the wide-spread allegation that the residential areas of Oak Ridge have been badly contaminated by the Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear facilities that lie within its borders. These allegations are seldom supported by quantitative data and in the few cases that are, the data can be shown to be wrong. The rumors appear to rely on the widespread fear of radiation and the controversial nature of our role of nuclear weapons in our society. To fully understand the role of the nuclear facilities on the environmental health one must understand the geography of the city and the locations of the nuclear facilities. The Oak Ridge residential areas lie in the northeast corner of the larger incorporated area. The city consists of ridges and valleys. The prevailing winds follow the valleys about 95 percent of the time and a significant amount of groundwater does not flow beneath ridges. East Fork Poplar Creek, flows from the Y-12 Production Facility through the western portion of the city mostly commercial and low density residential areas.

All streams and air emissions from the nuclear facilities are sampled and monitored. The results are distributed regularly. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation - DOE Oversight Office and EPA also monitor and overview the DOE operations and cleanup of the nuclear facilities. In discussing the health effects of any industry including the nuclear industry, it is very important to distinguish between workers and residents. The established exposure limits are very different and the actual exposures may vary by a factor of 100 or more. This brochure does not deal with worker exposures nor with contamination at the actual fenced-in nuclear facilities.

The Oak Ridge Water Supply

The City water supply comes from the Clinch River well above any minor outflows of the disposal sites and on the upstream side of the Melton Hill Dam from the actual facility outflows. It is of course carefully monitored and easily meets all state requirements for drinking water.

The DOE Facilities

The DOE Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) comprises three installations and their waste areas all of which occupy about 10 percent of the total reservation. The remainder of the ORR is uncontaminated except for a few, small locations.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which produces the most hazardous waste, lies two valleys over about eight miles to the southeast of the residential areas. As a research reactor site it has produced a wide variety of waste materials. Its waste areas lie even further from the city. The water flows are away from the Oak Ridge residential areas into the White Oak Creek watershed to the Clinch River in which there is a dilution factor of about 1000.

The East Tennessee Technology Park( ETTP), the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, lies about five miles to the west, is shut down and is being converted to general industrial uses whose air emissions are very low. The past emissions have been predominantly uranium and fluorine. The groundwater flows away from the city to the Clinch River. The Toxic Substance Control Act Incinerator still operates but its emissions are very low, too small for successful continuous monitoring and less than two percent of the permitted levels. The emitted radiation contributes less than 0.1 percent of the background level.

The Y-12 Weapons Facility is situated over Pine Ridge, about 3000 feet from the nearest residential neighborhood, Scarboro. The predominant waste products have been uranium and PCBs. The current level of emissions are much smaller than in the past. In the past, a very small amount of airborne uranium has come over the hill to Scarboro. Around 1960, large amounts of mercury were released to East Fork Poplar Creek and the floodplain soils were contaminated (more later).

Contamination of Residential Areas

Since all soils contain contaminants from natural sources (e.g., rock strata) or distant airborne sources (e.g., PCBs), contamination generally means the incremental levels of hazardous substances over and above what would be found in the absence of local activities. These background levels are determined from soil samples taken on the uncontaminated areas of the ORR as well as uncontaminated locations remote from the ORR. These data are also available in the open literature for other locations in the country. These background samples will vary considerably with differences in naturally occurring soil minerals. These uncontaminated levels form the reference for the comparison of allegedly contaminated soils. The known contaminated locations in residential Oak Ridge are:

There is the remnant of a small cesium 137 spill on the CSX railroad tracks. This has been remediated and is considered safe for unrestricted use by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The Atomic City Auto Parts (fenced-off in a commercial area) received some contaminated scrap metals. This is being remediated to a level acceptable for unrestricted use.
The Lower East Fork Poplar Creek floodplain soils were contaminated with up to 3000 ppm of mercuric sulfide but has been remediated to 400 ppm , a level deemed to be safe for unrestricted access. The soil also shows negligible amounts of other contaminants from Y-12 flood waters. Although the current mercury outflow from Y-12 is 5000 times less than the historic high, the soils are monitored to ensure periodic floods do not deposit more mercury. While the mercury level of the water is below the required level for drinking, it does not yet meet environmental quality. Food chain enrichment is evident in some species of fish and the stream is posted against fishing and water contact but this is no real loss as it is an urban stream which receives the runoff of two thirds of Oak Ridge. It is not a favorite fishing or swimming stream although a few kids may have made use of it occasionally. There never has been evidence of human (or grazing animal) harm from the mercuric sulfide in the flood plain soils.
The Scarboro community has received a small amount of airborne enriched uranium from the Y-12 plant. Since the East Tennessee soil contain natural uranium and the Scarboro soils are well within the background ranges, it is difficult to say precisely how much originated in Y-12 but it is estimated to be less than 5 percent. Soil samples reveal no further contaminants attributable to DOE. This area has had considerable study but is not yet finalized. Unless future samples show significant contamination the community will be deemed safe.
On the Clinch River there are about four spots slightly contaminated by cesium 137 which, while not above the environmental limit, will probably be cleaned up as apart of an new residential/commercial development in the western part of the city.
The Poplar Creek Embayment and the Lower Watts Bar Reservoir (not a part of Oak Ridge) are posted against fishing for some species of fish and turtles due to PCBs. This is not unusual for Tennessee bodies of water that have been tested as PCBs are wide spread from general industrial use. Only 25 percent of the PCBs are attributed to DOE. A recent exposure assessment found no increase in PCB blood serum levels of heavy fish eaters. The deep sediments of these bodies of water contains cesium-137 buried beneath new cleaner sediments and 20-40 feet of water and are deemed safe except for dredging.

All told Oak Ridge is a clean community. The very few specific spills or outflows have been or are being cleaned up to conservative safe, standards and there is no evidence of any general contamination. In addition it has a lot of open space, recreational areas and greenways with hiking trails.

Why Does the Myth Live On?

One may well ask why does allegation of the serious contamination continue? One contributing factor is the confusion between the exposure in the workplace and the exposure of the public. Some people simply do not trust the government. Another is the definition of contamination. There are also people who believe that any contamination however small is too much. With modern highly sensitive analytical methods, contamination can be found everywhere. The question should be: Is there enough contamination to harm the public?

The paranoia and fear of radiation is difficult to understand as the permissible levels of radiation for the general public are only about 3 percent of the natural background. Nuclear installations are held to far more restrictive standards than most other industries including coal-fired power stations. Granted that contamination should be controlled and minimized but reduction of the level to zero is both impossible and too costly. Every technology produces some contaminant. Lead can be found in the Greenland ice cap dating back 3000 years. The only way to eliminate contamination completely is to renounce the technology.

There are also agendas for which it is convenient to claim things not true or proven. One is the opposition to nuclear weapons. Shutting down Y-12 to prevent pollution will also stop its weapons production. Another is the claim that very small traces of contaminants acting together in synergism, can act to cause great harm. No proof of this exists but the claim is still made.

When all is said and done, Oak Ridge is a good, safe place to live.