Suit Over Doe Delay Averted State, Clinton Administration Agree To End Hanford Impasse

Washington state and the Clinton administration have agreed to end an impasse over cleaning out the Hanford Nuclear Reservation’s dangerous underground tanks.

The pact averts - at least for now - a threatened state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy for proposing further delays in cleaning up Hanford.

U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, Washington Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced the agreement Wednesday during Richardson’s first trip to Hanford.

“Obviously, disputes aren’t going to get the job done,” said Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the Clinton administration’s third energy czar.

Earlier this year, Locke and Gregoire signaled their increasing impatience with DOE’s proposed delays in cleaning up the tanks and removing spent nuclear fuel from the K Basins near the Columbia River.

They decided to use Richardson’s planned visit to Hanford as a final “drop dead” date to resolve the tank cleanup dispute.

On Wednesday, Locke and Gregoire said they expect to hammer out a more aggressive cleanup schedule over the next 60 days.

The wastes are potentially lethal liquid garbage from the early days of Hanford’s Cold War mission to make plutonium for nuclear bombs.

Under the state’s 1989 cleanup pact with DOE, all liquid radioactive wastes from Hanford’s 149 underground single-wall tanks were supposed to be transferred to 28 newer and safer tanks by 2000.

But DOE had recently proposed a delay to 2004, saying the deadline was impossible due to new safety concerns.

In June, Gregoire filed a 60-day notice to sue DOE over the slipping schedule.

In August, state negotiators agreed to dicker with DOE for an additional 60 days, but said they’d proceed with the lawsuit if an agreement wasn’t reached this week.

Locke praised Richardson for pledging to get the cleanup schedule back on track.

Richardson “has shown tremendous leadership by making these commitments,” the governor said.

The new agreement recognizes there could be additional technical or safety issues that could force revisions in the tank schedule.

A similar agreement was reached this summer on the K Basins, where 2,300 tons of deteriorating nuclear fuel rods are stored. The Environmental Protection Agency and DOE agreed to start removing the most hazardous fuel rods in 2000.

The 90,000 fuel roads contain more than 80 percent of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, including 4.3 tons of plutonium.

The K Basin cleanup was supposed to cost $1.1 billion and be done by November 2001, according to a 1994 plan. But now the project is expected to take until 2007 and will cost at least $1.6 billion.

This sidebar appeared with the story: CLEAN-UP DELAYS The K Basin cleanup was supposed to cost $1.1 billion and be done by November 2001, according to a 1994 plan. Now the project is expected to take until 2007 and will cost at least $1.6 billion.