Work proceeds at American Nuclear site
The cleanup is underway at the American Nuclear site at 147 Blockhouse Valley Road.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began the removal work April 1 after some preparation beforehand, a news release.
The agency expects to continue with the work, which includes demolishing buildings and taking out toxic soils, possibly through October.
While the EPA is taking steps to prevent any waste spilling during the process, it has warned of increased traffic on Blockhouse Valley Road and some noise.
Carter Owens, on scene coordinator for the EPA’s Region 4 Superfund and Emergency Management Division, addressed the Anderson County Intergovernmental Committee on Monday, April 15.
“I can do whatever you want me to do; I work for the people. That’s the whole job,” he said regarding how often he might provide information to the county government.
He said the EPA will likely start trucking the low-level radioactive material off the site in about a month.
The EPA plans to use Old Emory Road and generally take the waste on the most-direct route to Knoxville, but Owens said he is from Atlanta and doesn’t know all the local roads’ names yet. Once in Knoxville, the waste will go by train to a disposal facility in Texas.
The American Nuclear site’s facility produced source material for medical use starting in 1962, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said at the meeting.
“The second American Nuclear took over, they started having leaks and spills,” said Owens.
Officilas frpm the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation were checking on the property regularly, and during one such check, they noticed American Nuclear had abandoned the site entirely. This led the state to seize it in 1973.
“But they left everything, all the contamination,” he said of American Nuclear.
For a period, he said, the state allowed for some use of an office building on part of the site before ending that.
An earlier cleanup effort put some toxic material in a now buried septic tank, which the EPA also plans to remove. TDEC referred the site to the EPA’s Superfund program on July 15, 2022.