RICHLAND, Wash. - The
Hanford Nuclear Reservation is famously home to 53 million gallons of
radioactive sludge. But over it's long history, the site has also
collected scads of work materials, lab supplies and clothing that are
also contaminated. Now, federal and state officials have agreed on a
new set of deadlines for cleaning up that tricky waste. [Correspondent
Anna King reports.]
After 1970, Hanford managers started
putting these radioactive items in wooden boxes and drums and dumping
them in dozens of dirt ditches. At that time they didn't know what else
to do with the waste. Now, the federal government has a huge tunnel in
New Mexico to bury this kind of contaminated trash. A new proposed
agreement between the federal government and Washington state sets
deadlines to clean up that waste by 2035. John Price is with Washington
State Ecology.
John Price: “This fills in a missing part of the Hanford cleanup story. Because we never had deadlines to get this type of waste off of the site. So we are really pleased and we think this is a good deal.”
But Seattle-area Hanford watchdog Jerry Pollet says the federal government isn't cleaning up the waste fast enough.
[I'm Anna King in Richland.]
Copyright 2010 Northwest Public Radio
John Price: “This fills in a missing part of the Hanford cleanup story. Because we never had deadlines to get this type of waste off of the site. So we are really pleased and we think this is a good deal.”
But Seattle-area Hanford watchdog Jerry Pollet says the federal government isn't cleaning up the waste fast enough.
[I'm Anna King in Richland.]
Copyright 2010 Northwest Public Radio
Comments