The Southern Environmental Law Center, in conjunction with state and local conservationists, has asked DOE to stop selling and leasing federal property until it has fully assessed the cumulative impacts of multiple developments as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

In a Jan. 17 letter to DOE's Oak Ridge manager, Leah Dever, a senior attorney with the Virginia-based law center, said the agency is doing only limited environmental assessments for proposed development of two parcels on the Oak Ridge reservation. Richard Parrish of SELC said there can be "little doubt" that those pending decisions are part of a larger land-use plan and should invoke a full-blown environmental-impact statement.

DOE spokesman Steven Wyatt said Friday that federal officials were in the process of responding to the letter and had no comment.

The Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the Tennessee Conservation League have raised concern about current proposals involving about 630 acres, saying the developments would have irreversible effects on the ecosystem, jeopardize hunting and recreational interests and threaten the habitat for wildlife and endangered plant species.

"We have a truly rare asset here that should not be squandered piece by piece for uncertain short-term economic gain," said Dev Joslin, Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation president.

Joslin said his group has repeatedly asked DOE to prepare a land-use plan that looks at the long-term interests of the 34,000-acre federal reservation.

DOE plans to hold a public meeting Jan. 30 at the Oak Ridge Mall, beginning at 6 p.m.

"At this meeting, DOE officials will answer questions and discuss current activities on the Oak Ridge reservation as well as our longer term vision of the future," Wyatt said. "Hopefully, the meeting also will promote greater interactions and dialogue between the many diverse groups who are interested in these issues."

Joslin said DOE has promised to address those concerns in the past and not done so.

"The approach they have taken to these two proposed projects flies in the face of the spirit of such planning," he said.

Conservation groups are upset that DOE is considering the lease of 450 acres near the K-25 site for commercial and industrial use, following an earlier lease of about 1,000 acres in the same area. In addition, DOE is evaluating the possible sale of 180 acres in the Clinch River flood plain, which would allow river access for a proposed commercial and residential development project on a nearby 1,200-acre tract now held by the Boeing Co.

Mike Butler of the Tennessee Conservation League said some of the targeted properties are currently open to hunting as part of the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area. Hunting probably would be halted if the developments are approved, he said.