Managers Expect To Find More Violations At Inel As Workers Correct Existing Problems, More Tanks Will Be Examined

Sun., Aug. 11, 1996

Associated Press

As Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and state workers strive to correct 61 possible federal hazardous waste violations cited by the state earlier this year, managers expect to uncover many more violations at several buildings on the 890-square-mile site.

“It’s bigger than we thought,” said Dick Cullison, environmental programs manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho office. “We’re getting our hands around it. There is no risk to human health or the environment.”

Cullison said more than 1,000 tanks at INEL will be examined to ensure they are in compliance with the law. He described a notice of violation issued by the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality in February as a wake-up call to more aggressively resolve the problem.

When state regulators cited the Energy Department for violations that could result in fines totaling $317,300, INEL contractor Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Co. already had identified most of the potential problems and was acting to correct them.

The state spotted the problems during inspections of INEL’s Chemical Processing Plant, Test Reactor Area, Central Facilities Area and Test Area North.

Potential violations at the Test Reactor Area involved two 12,000-gallon sulfuric acid storage tanks and two 12,000-gallon sodium hydroxide storage tanks. When workers started cleaning the retired tanks last year, leaks started around some of the tanks’ valves. The leaking substance was found to contain mercury, characterized as hazardous under federal law.

After the state cited the Energy Department for the hazardous waste violations, the federal agency and Lockheed Martin examined why violations occurred and how to prevent them from recurring.

“We took a hard look at our management systems,” said Carlos Tellez, Lockheed Martin’s environmental programs manager.

The review, Tellez said, revealed that senior managers must have no tolerance for hazardous waste violations and need to more clearly convey what is needed for compliance.

Revamping procedures for compliance also means employees now are actively encouraged to look for, spot and report possible hazardous waste violations.

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