I have blogged before about problems at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south central Washington State. The federal government manufactured nuclear weapons at the site for decades with little regard to the safety of workers and the environment. Toxic mixes of radioactive materials and dangerous chemicals were poured directly into trenches dug in the dirt. Later, these toxic liquids were poured into single-walled buried tanks which soon began leaking into the soil. Double-walled tanks were constructed and some of the liquids were moved to those but the new tanks began leaking too.
Workers were repeatedly exposed to vapors leaking from the tanks. The DoE regularly issued statements to the effect that there was little risk to the workers and no permanent health problems. On the other hand, many workers complained of permanent damage to their health and some were unable to continue working.
Critics of safety at Hanford say that hundreds of workers have been endangered by vapors leaking from the underground storage tanks at Hanford. These vapors
can include ammonia, nitrous oxide and dimethyl mercury.
The State of Washington has repeatedly taken the U.S. Department of Energy to court over delays in cleanup of the Hanford site. Recently, a tunnel collapsed that was used to transport materials from a nuclear reactor to a plutonium processing plant. The DoE said that there was no release of radioactive materials, but workers reported health issues following the collapse releasing vapors from the tunnel. There have been reports of finding radioactive materials in the areas and on workers vehicles near the collapsed tunnel.
Bob Ferguson, the Attorney General of Washington, has been working hard to improve protections for workers’ health and safety at Hanford. On Wednesday, he announced a new settlement agreement with the DoE that should protect workers from vapor releases in the future. The agreement suspends a three-year lawsuit against the DoE and their civilian contractor at Hanford, Washington River Protection Solutions. The law suit was scheduled to go to trial next June.
Ferguson has described a “culture of indifference to worker safety” at Hanford. He said that the new agreement could be a turning point for workers at the Hanford tank farm. DoE will be testing what they say are “groundbreaking” technology to capture and destroy tank vapors.
Ferguson says that the DoE has failed the Hanford workers for years. He hopes that “We’re finally moving towards a lasting solution. We should not have had to file a lawsuit. It shouldn’t have come to this.”
A spokesperson for the DoE said that the agency was pleased with the new agreement. She went on to say, “We’ve acknowledged there is still room for us to continue to improve.” She also said that the DoE priority was to work together with the contractor to “make sure the workers are safe and comfortable with the safety measures in place.”
Under pressure from the State of Washington, the DoE has repeatedly promised to change the ways things were being done at Hanford. Deadline after deadline has passed without the promised work being done. I certainly hope that this new agreement results in the needed changes but judging from past performance, the odds are not good.