Counties To Lobby White House On Hanford Reach Officials Promoting Local Control Over 51 Miles Of Columbia River

Commissioners from Grant and Benton counties hope to promote local control of the Hanford Reach to the Clinton administration while in Washington, D.C., this week.

LeRoy Allison from Grant County and Max Benitz Jr. from Benton County are part of a group of Mid-Columbia officials who plan to meet with Department of Energy officials about Hanford issues. They also hope to meet with officials from the Departments of Interior and Commerce, plus the president’s Council on Environmental Quality.

The commissioners’ goal is to preempt a threatened executive order that would keep the Hanford Reach and the Wahluke Slope under federal control.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said almost two weeks ago that the Clinton administration is considering issuing an executive order if Congress doesn’t act soon. Murray has introduced legislation to protect the 51-mile reach under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

Allison and Benitz want to speak in person to White House officials about the other Hanford Reach management plan, developed by Grant, Benton and Franklin counties. They are taking with them a letter of support from the Franklin County commissioners, who were unable to make the trip.

The counties’ plan, which spawned a bill sponsored by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., would establish a sevenmember commission of local, state and federal representatives to manage a quarter-mile corridor on each bank of the Reach.

Benitz said he wants the president to read the plan before deciding whether to intervene.

“He would have to say to the people who have put time into this plan that this is unacceptable and that our plan is not a viable plan and that the citizens are not capable of managing the Hanford Reach,” Benitz said.

The counties want to keep the question of Hanford Reach control in the hands of Congress. Hastings got House Majority Leader Dick Armey to agree last month that no Wild and Scenic Act legislation would be acted on by the House.

Allison and Benitz also have scheduled meetings with the state’s congressional delegation.

Rex Carney, Murray’s spokesman, said the senator remains committed to working out a legislative compromise between her and Hastings’ bills. She expects to see negotiations begin yet this year, Carney said.