LOC Mission & Information

Mission

The LOC’s purpose is to ensure, in a manner consistent with prudent and effective use of public funds, that the best interests of those local communities adjacent to and downstream of the DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation are protected to the maximum extent possible during the cleanup and continued operation of the ORR facilities and associated off-site areas.  These interests include human health, the environment, and the local economic and social well being.

What is the LOC?

The LOC is a non-profit, regional organization representing the interests of local governments and their citizens with respect to DOE’s environmental decisions on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). Other issues of concern are off-site contamination, emergency planning, historic preservation, and reindustrialization.

The LOC was formed in 1991 when the state of Tennessee signed an oversight agreement with DOE to independently monitor ORR environmental restoration and waste management activities.

Board of Directors and Citizens’ Advisory Panel

The LOC’s Board of Directors includes elected and appointed officials from the City of Oak Ridge and the seven surrounding and downstream counties.

The LOC’s Citizens’ Advisory Panel (CAP) is composed of up to 20 citizens from the greater ORR region with diverse backgrounds.  The CAP studies DOE’s technical and policy issues, presenting its recommendations to the Board and state and federal officials.  Any interested individual is invited to apply for a position on the CAP.

Initiatives undertaken by the CAP include promotion of planning and funding for long-term stewardship on the ORR, examining options for disposal of legacy and cleanup wastes, outreach on emergency planning and response, working with federal and state agencies regarding mercury and PCB contamination downstream of ORR, promotion of Manhattan Project-related heritage tourism, evaluating new environmental remediation technologies, supporting beneficial reuse of industrial assets, and studying environmental health issues in the community.

Objectives and Activities

  • Promote maximum local public awareness and involvement
  • Provide an effective avenue for disseminating accurate information
  • Issue news releases and press briefings, and conduct other activities designed to inform the public
  • Evaluate, comment, and make recommendations on DOE’s ongoing actions, reports, and findings
  • Represent local concerns to the DOE, EPA, and TDEC in the review of all projects of greatest interest to the local communities
  • Promote the acceleration of those activities identified by the LOC as providing increased local benefit when expedited
  • Participate in the annual budget and prioritization process for DOE’s Environmental Management program
  • Communicate local concerns and interests to the DOE, EPA, Congress, and the State of Tennessee
  • Take positions on national issues that affect ORR’s progress on environment cleanup and waste management
  • Prepare special studies, assessments, surveys, and related efforts to further public information
  • Act as a liaison with LOC-member county and city governments with respect to activities requiring government action or participation