Wash. sues feds over Hanford nuclear site cleanup

RICHLAND, Wash. — Washington state is suing the federal government to seek a faster cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation, after nearly 18 months of negotiations failed to produce an agreement.

“In Washington state, we have been patient. In Washington state, we have been reasonable. And today, our patience has simply run out,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday. “They were steadfast on putting us in a legal position that is not good for the people of this community.”

Gregoire said she was willing to accept deadlines proposed by the Energy Department, which manages the cleanup. But the Justice Department refused to make those deadlines enforceable in court, she said, leaving the state no choice but to sue in U.S. District Court.

Cleanup extension asked for Hanford

“RICHLAND — Federal officials are asking for more time to finish cleaning up the central part of the Hanford nuclear reservation, saying the federal budget requires that cleanup work first must be done along the Columbia River.

A letter requesting extensions on 23 cleanup deadlines was sent Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Energy to the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Ecology, the Tri-City Herald reported.”

Hanford is the nation’s most-contaminated nuclear site, a legacy of producing fuel for atomic bombs dating from the 1940s. Cleanup deadlines are part of the Tri-Party Agreement between the three agencies.

Hanford mystery cylinders to be tapped

“Two mystery cylinders found in a Hanford burial ground will be opened Saturday in the center of the nuclear reservation when few workers are on duty as a safety precaution.

One of the compressed gas cylinders may hold a poisonous gas that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. And both cylinders are suspected of containing highly corrosive chemicals.”

DOE cleanup chief Quits- Hanford

Jim Rispoli decied to call it quits in Hanford today.

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“Jim Rispoli, the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for environmental management, told colleagues today that he’s resigning effective Nov. 20.

As assistant secretary, he heads DOE programs for cleanup at Hanford and other nuclear weapon sites.”

HANFORD: Litigation still possible to enforce cleanup

The state of Washington will go to court to enforce Hanford cleanup requirements only if it’s a better way to serve the state’s interests than any agreement it can negotiate with the federal government.

That’s what state Attorney General Rob McKenna told the Tri-City Development Council and the Hanford Communities in a reply to their letter of concern over the renegotiation of the Tri-Party Agreement.

The two agencies told the state and the Department of Energy earlier this month that if negotiations over the Tri-Party Agreement fail, Hanford cleanup and the economy of the Tri-City area will suffer.

The state is expected to take legal action if the agreement, which sets legally binding deadlines for cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation, cannot be renegotiated.

DOE is behind schedule on major cleanup projects with no hope of meeting deadlines on them.

Hanford begins waste retrieval

Hanford workers began retrieving radioactive and hazardous chemical waste from Tank C-110 this week.

They’re hoping it marks the first sustained effort to retrieve solid waste from leak-prone underground tanks since late July 2007 when a spill of waste stopped operations.

It also ends CH2M Hill Hanford Group’s efforts at the tank farms on a positive note. New contractor Washington River Protection Solutions takes over operations of Hanford’s tank farms Oct. 1 under a $7.1 billion contract.

CH2M Hill has completed removing waste from seven Hanford tanks and has done some work to retrieve solid wastes from four more, including Tank C-110. It also removed pumpable liquid from all 149 of Hanford’s leak-prone single shell tanks.

Researchers tackle uranium pollution mystery at Hanford

Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory believe a research project using 35 newly drilled wells will help explain the baffling behavior of uranium contamination at Hanford.

A decade ago, Hanford officials believed uranium contamination at the nuclear reservation just north of Richland along the Columbia River was a problem that time would solve.

After the most contaminated soil was dug up and hauled to a landfill for low-level radioactive waste in central Hanford, they expected the uranium-contaminated ground water below it to naturally dissipate.

Instead, levels of contamination remain at up to three times the drinking water standard in the ground water.

“The plume here has been far more persistent than expected,” said John Zachara, PNNL chief scientist who is leading a team of experts in underground geochemistry, hydrology and microbiology on the research project.

They’re hoping that with the array of new wells equipped with sophisticated monitoring devices they will be able to get to the bottom of the mystery of how uranium behaves deep underground.

“We’re looking at some very aggressive technology,” said Mike Thompson, Department of Energy hydrogeologist.

Vegetable oil new Hanford cleanup tool

Researchers at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site last year injected 5,000 gallons of molasses into the soil to try to clean up toxic groundwater near the Pacific Northwest’s largest waterway.

This week, they’re trying their hands at vegetable oil.

Who knew the answers to ridding the Hanford nuclear reservation of wastewater might be in the kitchen? State officials who have long pressured the federal government to clean up Hanford, call the cooking oil a good idea.

“We support these tests, they’re actually pretty inexpensive,” said John Price, project manager of environmental restoration for the Washington Department of Ecology. “We’d like to see them scale up to a full system, beyond just tests, sooner rather than later.”

The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Plutonium production for the nation’s nuclear weapons program continued there for four decades, leaving a mess of radioactive and hazardous waste.

High on the cleanup list at the south-central Washington site: an estimated 80 square miles of groundwater, contaminated at levels exceeding state and federal drinking water standards.

Hanford employees fired over alleged fraud

Fluor Hanford has fired three employees it believes are linked to the misuse of a federal government credit card issued for work at the Hanford nuclear reservation.

A single card was used to make fraudulent purchases over at least the past four years, according to a memo sent by Fluor Hanford President Con Murphy to employees Wednesday. Just one person was allowed to sign on the card.

The purchases included tools and electronic equipment, said Fluor spokeswoman Judy Connell.

Fluor became suspicious of purchases several months ago and started its own investigation. It notified the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General in June as it became apparent fraud likely had occurred. The Office of Inspector General is conducting a criminal investigation.

Hanford waste initiative dead after no appeal made

The state of Washington will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments on the Hanford waste initiative, ending any chance that it will become law.

Tuesday was the deadline for the state to appeal a May decision of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that found the initiative unconstitutional.

The initiative was passed by voters in every county except Benton and Franklin in 2004, but had not been enacted because of legal challenges led by the federal government.

The initiative was intended to stop more waste from being sent to the Hanford nuclear reservation until waste already there is cleaned up, but critics said it would have unintended consequences.