Environmental Management is the largest Oak Ridge program, with cleanup programs underway to correct the legacies remaining from more than 50 years of energy research and weapons production. The program includes an aggressive effort to complete the majority of environmental cleanup by 2008, including the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) site. Already, significant progress has been made in cleaning up large gaseous diffusion plant buildings at this site. Reservation-wide, DOE has accelerated the completion of the OR EM program by six years and reduced by ~$2 billion in total lifecycle costs.
Because of past practices, portions of land and facilities on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) are contaminated with radioactive elements, mercury, asbestos, PCBs, and industrial wastes. The ORR is on the Environmental Protection Agency's 
(EPA) national priorities list and is being cleaned up under a federal facilities agreement with EPA and the State of Tennessee.
The Oak Ridge Environmental Management Accelerated Closure Project includes three major subprojects: Melton Valley Closure, ETTP Closure, and Balance of Reservation. Each of these subprojects is driven by specific Records of Decision; the Federal Facility Compliance Act and Site Treatment Plan for the ORR, and supports the EM risk reduction objectives. To accomplish this mission, a cost-plus-incentive fee contract has been awarded that emphasizes results and outcomes.
ORO's EM Program is managed by Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC, along with prime contracts with BNFL Inc. and Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation. An Advisory Board, composed of citizen volunteers, provides input on the Oak Ridge cleanup program.