Anderson County cleanup in Clinton TN an environmental success
What do Lee Zeldin’s EPA rollbacks mean for Americans?
Lee Zeldin announced the Environmental Protection agency would roll back regulations aimed fighting climate change and pollution.
- The American Nuclear Corporation site in Clinton sat unremediated for years.
- Gov. Bill Lee marshaled state, local and federal efforts to clean up the site for possible use as a park.
- The strategy shows how we can balance economic growth with protecting our environment.
Anderson County is home to a new environmental success story, a classic case of turning a lemon into lemonade.
On Aug. 19, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Tennessee General Assembly, and local leaders gathered to celebrate the cleanup of the American Nuclear Corp. (ANC) site in Clinton. The job removed longstanding radioactive contamination from the property and paves the way for future constructive use of the site.
It’s a historic step.
The ANC site was transferred to the state in the early 1980s in a move to protect human health based on the conditions at the site at the time. But ANC and sites like it have been mothballed for decades without a mechanism for remediation. Fortunately, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly recognized this issue and took action.
Gov. Lee introduced, and the legislature passed, The Rural Brownfield Redevelopment Act in 2023. The Act provided a mechanism for funding the cleanup of brownfields – vacant or underutilized properties due to contamination – and prepare them for productive use. They also allocated additional funding to revitalize some of Tennessee’s most downtrodden and polluted sites through a new program called TN Clean.
With funding mechanisms in place, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation began crafting a plan to remediate the site in 2022. Due to extremely challenging conditions at the site, TDEC engaged the EPA to bring their expertise to the table. After only a few years of local, state and federal cooperation, the site is now ready for productive reuse. Anderson County would like to develop it as a green space, such as a park.
Gov. Lee’s conservation strategy seeks to balance economic growth while protecting our natural environment. He says we should reject conventional wisdom that we cannot grow our economy and protect our environment at the same time. I think he may be on to something, because I cannot think of a better example of this strategy in action than the success I have witnessed right here in Anderson County.
Terry Frank is the mayor of Anderson County.
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