This is another in a continuing series of piecemeal decisions regarding Oak Ridge Reservation land use. Each one of these was proposed as a stand-alone action uniquely needed to foster economic development, but together they form a program to carve up the public lands of the Oak Ridge Reservation for private benefit. Under the National Environmental Policy Act it is illegal to divide an action into small segments in order to avoid environmental scrutiny for the overall action, but this seems to be what DOE is doing for land use.
Benefits are Questionable.
The EA assumes that there would be about 1000 direct jobs in businesses locating on the 450-acre site, plus another 3000 indirect jobs in the region. Progress at these sites is limited by lack of money to upgrade and extend utilities, clean up contamination, and demolish older buildings to make way for new construction. Ecological Impacts Overlooked. The EA overlooks some potential adverse effects on biodiversity and wildlife habitat. The EA treats the proposed lease areas as if they were isolated in space, failing to acknowledge that several of the various pieces of ED-3 are parts of much larger tracts of forested land.