Energy Secretary Chu visits the Vit Plant
Fri, August 28, 2009DOE News Media Contact: (202) 586-4940
Richland, Wash. — With the ongoing construction of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) in the background at the Hanford Site, Energy Secretary Steven Chu joined Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Cruden and other officials today to announce a proposed legal settlement that will impose a new, enforceable and achievable schedule for tank waste cleanup at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State.
The Washington State and federal officials announced a proposed judicial consent decree that will be filed in federal court, then be subject to a public comment period. The proposed consent decree between the Department of Energy (DOE) and Washington State will set a new and achievable schedule for construction and startup of the WTP and the retrieval of waste from the large underground single-shell storage tanks at Hanford. Hanford currently stores 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in 177 underground tanks at the Site. The proposed consent decree settles litigation that was filed by Washington State last November and joined by the State of Oregon in February to compel the Energy Department to complete key aspects of the Hanford cleanup.
In tandem with the consent decree, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology are proposing changes to their 1989 Tri-Party Agreement to establish a new, realistic but aggressive schedule for completing waste retrieval from all single-shell storage tanks by 2040, and treating all of the tank waste by 2047. The modifications to the Tri-Party Agreement will also be subject to a public comment period before they are finalized.
The waste from the single-shell tanks will be removed and pumped to newer double-shell tanks, and ultimately transferred to the WTP where it will be immobilized into a sturdy glass waste form through a process called vitrification.
In addition, DOE and the State of Oregon have agreed upon a consent decree that recognizes Oregon’s strong interest in the cleanup effort and provides Oregon the right to receive copies of certain reports and notices that DOE must file under the consent decree with Washington State; the right to participate as observer in joint three-year reviews with DOE and Washington State; and prior notice of any motion by DOE filed with the court to modify the consent decree with Washington or invoke judicial dispute resolution proceedings under its terms. Oregon and Washington will also enter into a separate Memorandum of Agreement that will solidify the two states’ cooperative efforts regarding Hanford. Under the agreement, the Oregon Department of Energy will have the opportunity to review the Department of Ecology’s correspondence with DOE, consult with Washington State regarding changes and progress at Hanford, and provide input before final decisions are made.
The Tri-Party Agreement would extend the current schedule for completing retrieval of waste from single-shell tanks from 2018 to 2040, and completing treatment of all tank waste from 2028 to 2047. These new schedules are, in reality, aggressive, but achievable. With a goal of accelerating the completion dates, the proposed agreement adds a process for reviewing the final completion dates every six years. Each six-year review will determine whether the completion dates can be accelerated. At three-year intervals, a detailed system plan will be generated to evaluate options for accelerating cleanup. This “End Date Review Process” ensures that the Hanford tank waste cleanup remains as aggressive as possible.
As a result of the negotiations and settlement, the Department of Energy will issue an upcoming draft environmental impact statement that will include a preferred alternative of not importing certain off-site radioactive, mixed radioactive and hazardous waste to Hanford at least until the WTP is operational. Once the draft environmental impact statement has been issued and if public comment doesn’t identify a reason for not executing the consent decree, the state and DOE will move to enter the consent decree with the federal court and will also finalize the Tri-Party Agreement changes described above.
Under the agreement, DOE will also prepare a lifecycle analysis of all Hanford cleanup costs to meet legally mandated timelines for cleanup. The Tri-Party Agreement agencies today also finalized and signed changes in the agreement that establish new milestones for cleaning up contaminated groundwater under the Hanford Site to ensure protection of the Columbia River.
For more information about the Hanford cleanup, please visit: http://www.hanford.gov.