DOE considering storing mercury in Kingston, some OR Council members concerned
The Department of Energy is looking at storing elemental mercury in Kingston, and some members of Oak Ridge City Council have raised concerns.
The City Council and city staff discussed the possibility of storage in Kingston at Council's July 19 meeting.
If DOE goes ahead with the Kingston option, the mercury would be stored at the existing Perma-Fix Diversified Scientific Services Inc. in Kingston, 657 Gallaher Road, although that's just one of the options DOE is currently considering. DOE has referred to a need to store mercury from Y-12 National Security Complex, but also from other locations. The facility would be private and outside the city of Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch described the facility as possibly holding mercury from "anywhere in the country."
Council members Chuck Hope and Ellen Smith voiced opposition, but Council took no action.
Smith said she would prefer DOE store elemental mercury in an "isolated location" rather than "in public realms, which any location in Kingston would be." She said she preferred some of the other locations DOE is considering, but also said she would not mind it staying at Y-12.
DOE has also listed other possible locations including Hawthorne Army Depot in Hawthorne, Nev.; Waste Control Specialists LLC in Andrews County, Texas; Bethlehem Apparatus in Bethlehem, Pa.; Veolia North America in Gum Springs, Ark.; and Clean Harbors ,which has facilities in Pecatonica, Ill.; Greenbrier, Tenn.; and Tooele, Utah.
A draft report on this facility, called the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is available online on the DOE website https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/doeeis-0423-s2-draft-supplemental-environmental-impact-statement. A summarized notice of it is in the agenda for the July 19 City Council meeting, available on the City Council website.
Send your comments
DOE invites public comment on the statement during a 45-day public comment period, which ends Aug. 22 this year.
"Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable," DOE stated.
You can send comments by email to the address ElementalMercury_NEPA@ em.doe.gov. Submit comments as an email message or email attachment in a format such as Microsoft Word or PDF file without encryption. Submit comments by U.S. Mail to Ms. Julia Donkin, NEPA Document Manager, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy
DOE will also hold two web-based public hearings on Zoom. The hearings will cover the same material. The first hearing will be held on Aug. 2, from noon to 2 p.m. The second hearing will be held on Aug. 4 from 1 to 3 p.m. Registration details and additional information are available on the DOE website for long-term management and storage of elemental mercury, https:// www.energy.gov/em/long-termmanagement-and-storage-elementalmercury.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: DOE considering storing mercury in Kingston
