The Department of Energy and the Washington state Department of Ecology have been involved in so-called “holistic” talks with the aid of a federal mediator since June 2020, the parties told a federal court Friday.
With a confidentiality deal in place, publicly the parties have said little, other than that talks are ongoing, with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The quarterly status report filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington shows roughly three dozen mediator-assisted large and small group sessions on Hanford cleanup have occurred since last summer.
The sessions have gone forward virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state has already extended certain deadlines due to the delays connected with the coronavirus, including extending the deadline into 2024 for the Waste Treatment Plant to start making glass from low-activity tank waste.
An initial mediation session was held June 25 of last year. Since June, the parties have participated in 14 additional mediation sessions between Aug. 5 2020 and April 28, according to the status report.
There have also 23 additional subcommittee or small group mediation sessions between Sept. 21 and April 28.
The parties agreed in September 2019 to pursue agreement on changes to the 1989 Tri-Party Agreement on cleanup plans at the old plutonium production facility. Washington state officials expressed worry DOE is not doing enough to safeguard against leaks from single-shell tanks —one was reported only last week —while the DOE Office of Environmental Management has said it wants a better relationship with the state given budget and technical challenges at the complex.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the third signer of the Tri-Party Agreement, is also participating.
