OAK RIDGE, TN – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has worked closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) to confirm half of the federal acreage on the Oak Ridge Reservation was not impacted by previous operations and does not require environmental cleanup. This clarification provides transparency about the condition of the land and supports future reuse.

In 1989, EPA placed DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List, making all contaminated areas within the Reservation subject to environmental investigation and cleanup. However, large portions of the federally-owned site were never used to support DOE missions.

OREM, in conjunction with TDEC, engaged in investigative efforts and environmental surveys in these areas to identify potential impacts. Data from those initiatives show 16,377 of the Oak Ridge Reservation’s 33,069 acres do not require cleanup and are eligible for reuse.

“Ensuring communities around our cleanup sites are safe, clean, and prosperous is at the core of our mission,” said OREM Manager Erik Olds. “This clarification is noteworthy because it helps Oak Ridge to continue growing and thriving in the years ahead by providing a more accurate view of the area and simplifying the land transfer process.”

While DOE will not transfer all this acreage, this clarification presents a clearer understanding of the parcels and supports the transfers that do occur. This recent designation helps simplify those transfers and allows for a wider variety of uses and developments on the land.

This is the latest in a line of recent successes from OREM and EPA’s partnership and collaboration with TDEC.

Through support from EPA’s Region 4 office, OREM is setting the pace for environmental cleanup across all 175 federal facilities in the Superfund program. Since 2020, OREM has accounted for 16% of all completed cleanup tasks across those sites and 35% for the southeast region.

"A principal goal of the Superfund program is to return contaminated properties to productive use," said EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber. "EPA looks forward to continued collaboration with DOE and TDEC to clean up additional properties and return them to economically viable community uses."

Earlier this year, EPA confirmed all soil cleanup is complete at a portion of the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), a 1,400-acre area known as Zone 1, enabling the reuse of land for economic development.

ETTP is formerly known as the K-25 Site or Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which operated from the mid-1940s until 1985. The plant was originally used to enrich uranium as part of the Manhattan Project, but it continued operations after World War II to produce enriched uranium for defense missions and commercial power.

Decades of cleanup by OREM and its contractors have transformed the former uranium enrichment complex into a multiuse industrial center, historical park, and conservation area that benefits the community. ETTP was the recipient of EPA’s 2024 National Federal Facility Excellence in Reuse Award.

To date, OREM has transferred more than 1,800 acres to the community for economic development. That land has attracted more than 25 businesses that have announced $8 billion in capital investments, and more developments are expected in the years ahead.

With major field work complete at ETTP, OREM is now focused on large-scale cleanup operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.