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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

More layoffs OK’d for Hanford

Tri-City Herald

RICHLAND – The Department of Energy has authorized its environmental cleanup contractors at Hanford to lay off up to 1,100 more workers in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

That’s in addition to up to 1,985 layoffs already announced this year, the majority of which will be Sept. 29.

Hanford started the year with about 12,000 employees, meaning the potential layoffs announced this year would cut jobs by about a quarter.

That does not include the jobs at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where about 50 jobs are expected to be trimmed from its staff of about 4,470 in Richland.

The most recent projected layoffs are to prepare for the new fiscal year federal budget, which is expected to reduce Hanford’s annual budget. The number of layoffs required will not be known until Congress passes a Hanford budget.

The projected 1,100 new layoffs will start with up to 475 jobs at the Hanford tank farms, where 56 million gallons of radioactive waste awaiting treatment are stored in underground tanks. The last day of work for those employees will be no later than Oct. 13.

The layoffs announced earlier this year are mostly linked to the end of federal economic stimulus money. Hanford received $1.96 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money that should be mostly spent by Sept. 29.

The 1,985 layoffs announced earlier this year also include up to 210 jobs at Washington Closure Hanford in fiscal 2012, as it begins the gradual ramp-down of work as cleanup along the Columbia River is completed.

The Tri-Cities has known that layoffs were coming as the last of the Recovery Act money was spent, said Gary Petersen, vice president of Hanford programs for the Tri-City Development Council.

But the layoffs announced Thursday are different, he said. They are linked to the annual budget money Hanford receives.

The DOE is allowing the cleanup contractors to cut up to 1,100 positions starting soon, rather than waiting until a budget is approved.