Group Calls on State to Order Protections for Tank Farm Workers
WC Monitor
6/20/2014
As concerns continue to grow over workers at the Hanford tank farms being exposed to hazardous vapors, the watchdog group Hanford Challenge is calling on the Washington state Attorney General’s Office to use the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to order immediate protections be put in place. According to media reports this week, a total of 37 workers have reported exposure to tank farm vapors, and the Department of Energy has commissioned the Savannah River National Laboratory to conduct a study, set to get underway this month, that officials have said is intended to provide a “final answer” to address tank vapor concerns.
However, in a letter sent to Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson in late April, and released this week, Hanford Challenge said more action is needed to prevent what it describes as “immediate risk” to the safety and health of tank farm workers. “Hanford Challenge has been a staunch advocate of protecting workers from chemical vapor exposure through supplied air, increased monitoring of the full spectrum of the 1,400 toxic chemicals that have been found in Hanford’s tanks, and policies that acknowledge the uncertainty and inaccuracy of vapor monitoring,” wrote the group’s executive director, Tom Carpenter. “Using worker safety and health provisions in RCRA would save the lives and health of an untold number of present and future Tank Farm workers,” Carpenter wrote.
Ferguson replied to Hanford Challenge in a June 9 letter, which the group also made public this week, saying that he has asked his staff to evaluate the potential use of RCRA to order worker protections. “In addition to evaluating legal tools, my office is also working closely with other state officials to ensure that this issue is addressed,” Ferguson wrote, adding, “I intend to stay abreast of these issues and facilitate the State providing technical input to the Department of Energy.”
