In brief: Hanford drums fall from flatbed truck
RICHLAND – A Department of Energy contractor said five drums holding low-level radioactive waste fell off a flatbed truck in the center of Hanford on Monday but no contaminated material was released.
The drums were among 74 on the truck that were being shipped from a treatment facility at Hanford to a nearby plant, the Tri-City Herald reported.
CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. said the truck was in an area where the public is not allowed. It stopped at a railroad crossing and the drums fell off. Radiological surveys showed that none of the drums broke.
The company was working Monday to determine what caused the drums to fall.
The treatment facility receives contaminated wastewater from Hanford activities, and the material in the drums was solid waste left from the water treatment.
Megaload appeal says harm imminent
BOISE – A General Electric Co. subsidiary wants a federal judge to reconsider this month’s ruling blocking it from trucking giant oil-field equipment on a winding Idaho highway.
The company Monday filed an appeal in U.S. District Court in Boise, saying Judge B. Lynn Winmill committed “serious errors of law and fact” when he blocked its so-called megaload from traveling U.S. Highway 12’s federally designated Wild and Scenic River corridor.
Winmill halted the shipments, at least until Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest managers assess impacts of the 225-foot-long, 640,000-pound water evaporator on the route before consulting with Nez Perce Tribe over its concerns.
The GE unit, which has said it could lose millions if its equipment doesn’t arrive at northern Alberta’s tar sands on schedule, said it’s facing “imminent and continuing irreparable harm.”
Deadline is Monday for education funds
Applications are due next week for schools and nonprofit organizations to be considered for education funding from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.
The tribe has donated more than $20 million to schools and education programs in the past 20 years, according to a news release. As part of its gaming compact with Idaho for the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley, the tribe agreed to donate 5 percent of net gambling revenue to education programs. Nearly 50 schools and nonprofits received funding this year for uses including technology upgrades, textbooks, scholarships and specific classes, the news release said.
Applications for 2014 grants are due by Monday; decisions on funding will be made in late January. The application form is available online at www.cdatribe-nsn.gov/ council/PDFs/ EDUCATION DONATIONREQUEST FORMFINAL.pdf
For questions about the program, contact Heather Keen at (208) 686-2023 or hkeen@cdatribe-nsn.gov
Teen rescued after fall in Olympic park
SEATTLE – A 15-year-old Idaho girl is in stable condition after falling from a 15-foot cliff while hiking in Olympic National Park.
The Coast Guard said a crew rescued the hiker Monday afternoon and flew her to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The girl was visiting the park on a school field trip. She reportedly fell head-first from a cliff north of the Hoh River in Clallam, Wash., and landed on a beach.
Rescue crews lowered a swimmer to help hoist the teen into a helicopter.
Tunnel boring resumes in Seattle
SEATTLE – The world’s largest tunnel boring machine has resumed digging its way under downtown Seattle.
Transportation Department spokeswoman KaDeena Yerkan said work resumed at 4:48 a.m. Monday, after being shut down since Aug. 20 by a labor dispute. The Longshore union had put up a picket line in a dispute with another union over four jobs moving excavated dirt.
The tunnel project is part of the state’s overall $3.1 billion plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the double-deck highway along the waterfront.