Ever since Oak Ridge was picked to be a location for the building of atomic bombs for the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge has been hurting the environment. For years, federal installations at Oak Ridge have manufactured nuclear bombs. In the process, the plants have produced -- and carelessly disposed of -- mountains of radioactive waste. The U.S. government admits that the Oak Ridge labs have littered the countryside with everything from asbestos and mercury to uranium. With any kind of litter or waste, when it rains it is spread far and wide, going into streams to creeks, to rivers and lakes and even our drinking water. Leakage is killing countless water species and any thing that drinks the water. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory's waste disposal has caused massive ecological damage to our water systems and environment; they must be dealt with. (Thompson) .
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and taxpayers complain that wastewater cleanup would cost too much to under go. Estimates from the Department of Energy state that just to investigate the damage or the extent of the contamination would cost at least 30.9 million dollars. Some taxpayers also think that they should not be responsible for the damages that the ORNL has caused. The ORNL would like to tell us that it has cleaned its messes and that nuclear waste is no longer a problem. The Department of Energy says that it no longer allows contaminates to enter into the water systems. Some residents of Oak Ridge say that the removal of contaminates from water would take too long and that most of the residents will not live to see a clean environment (Hedges). Many people believe that the ORNL has not caused massive ecological damage to our environment. Many people also believe that only animals in Oak Ridge are affected by ORNL waste. .
The Oak Ridge National Laboratories and the taxpayers should fund the waste cleanup. ORNL dumped contaminates and tax dollars have paid for the production of the bombs and should likewise pay for the mess they make (Daniels).