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RECOVERY ACT

ARRA funds speed the removal of scrap yard materials accumulated over decades.

Old Salvage Yard's pileup is outbound

In the early 1970s, a 7-acre tract of land became storage space for scrap materials from Y‑12 operations. For the next two decades, forklifts and bulldozers, more than 200 boxcar-size Sealand containers of materials and other scrap went to what's now known as the Old Salvage Yard. Eventually, weeds surrounded the yard's 1,100 containers, part of about 31,000 yd3 of scrap metal materials.

“ARRA funding allows us to clean up this area sooner than we expected,” Project Manager Brad Mattie said. “Each day, we'll see progress as we remove, remediate and disposition the material.”

Y‑12 is no stranger to cleanup activities. The drum yard project at Building 9720-16, for instance, also meant dealing with storage boxes, drums and equipment. “The salvage yard contains the same types of material,” said Jan Jackson, manager of Y‑12's Sustainability and Stewardship program. “The difference is that the Old Salvage Yard is about three times the size of the drum yard.”

After material is inventoried and surveyed, it will be removed. “Some items will be recycled. Other items will go to the Nevada Test Site or the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility in Oak Ridge,” Mattie said.

By October 2011, the 7 acres will be emptied of scrap and most likely will become employee parking.

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