skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Finding of no significant impact: Changes in the sanitary sludge land application program on the Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/475653· OSTI ID:475653

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has completed an environmental assessment (DOE/EA-1042) that evaluates potential impacts of proposed changes in the sanitary sludge land application program on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Changes in lifetime sludge land application limits and radionuclide loading are proposed, and two new sources of sewage sludge from DOE facilities would be transported to the City of Oak Ridge Publicly Owned Treatment Works (COR POTW). Lifetime sludge land application limits would increase from 22 tons/acre to 50 tons/acre, which is the limit approved and permitted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). With the approval of TDEC, the permissible radiological dose from sludge land application would change from the current limit of 2x background radionuclide concentrations in receiving soils to a risk-based dose limit of 4 millirem (mrem) per year for the maximally exposed individual. Sludge land application sites would not change from those that are currently part of the program. Based on the results of the analysis reported in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major federal action that would significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the context of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) is not necessary, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). 70 refs., 2 figs., 17 tabs.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI ID:
475653
Report Number(s):
DOE/EA-1042; ON: DE97003454; NC: NONE; TRN: 97:011977
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Oct 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English