Displaying items by tag: brownfield program

The towering Space Needle in Gatlinburg offers views of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The city is host to the Tennessee Sustainability Conference set to begin Aug. 20.  Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce

Conservation education event is hosted in part by Tennessee Chamber to address sustainability challenges

GATLINBURG — The annual Tennessee Sustainability Conference is scheduled to take place Aug. 20-22 at the Park Vista Hotel. The conference is a partnership among Tennessee Recycling Coalition, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Tennessee Environmental Conference. It brings together environmental professionals from across the region.

Nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an internationally known treasure trove of biodiversity and accompanying sustainability research. 

“The three-day event will provide attendees an accelerated learning opportunity featuring the latest trends and best practices in environmental sustainability,” said Tennessee Recycling Coalition Executive Director Amber Greene. “Staying on the cutting-edge of our ever-growing industry is essential to improving the lives of all Tennesseans. I encourage environmental leaders across the state to join us.”

According to organizers, the event will bring environmental professionals, decision-makers, government officials, business and industry leaders, attorneys, consultants, engineers, developers, architects, agribusiness leaders, energy experts, water planning districts, universities, public health officials, and solid waste and recycling experts, from across the region to learn about the latest trends and best practices in environmental sustainability. 

The remains of American Nuclear Corporation in Anderson County, Tenn. The company closed in 1972.  Photo courtesy of Tennessee Lookout

American Nuclear Corporation leaked radioactive chemicals for years before it closed in 1972

This article was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

CLAXTON — An East Tennessee site that has been contaminated for about 50 years with radioactive waste is set to be cleaned up with about $13.5 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation told Anderson County on October 9. 

The American Nuclear Corporation site, located in Claxton, Tennessee, has been a source of concern for Anderson County Government for years. Local officials have reached out at various points since at least 2008 to the state, the EPA and their district’s congressmen for help on cleaning up the site, according to a compilation of county records distributed last year by then County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg to the county’s intergovernmental committee.  

“I don’t know if we’re on camera, but in case we are, I am not going to dance but I am so darn excited about this!” County Mayor Terry Frank said after the announcement at the county’s intergovernmental meeting. “This is huge for Anderson County.”

In the 1960s, the American Nuclear Corporation “manufactured radiological sources for medical institutions,” a 2010 county application for the EPA’s National Brownfield Program grant said. The company had obtained source materials for their products from the Department of Energy. Isotopes that were handled included Cobalt-60 and Cesium-137, the application said. 

“Poor housekeeping was a problem during the entire period that the plant was in operation, and is extensively documented in compliance letters by the Tennessee Department of Public Health — Division of Occupational and Radiological Health. ANC was repeatedly cited for violations involving radioactive material,” the application said.