The Energy Department proposes to pay for five environmental projects valued at just over $1 million to work off some of the penalties assessed by the state of Idaho over the agency’s failure to start treating sodium-bearing waste at the Idaho National Laboratory.
The rest of the $2.19 million penalty incurred for the 12 months ended March 30, 2019, would be transferred straight into the Idaho Hazardous Waste Emergency Account.
The penalties are issued by Idaho under the terms of a noncompliance order modified for the fifth time in 2015.
Altogether, Idaho has assessed the Energy Department $6.1 million in fines for failure to begin operating the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory by the end of 2012. The Energy Department has already funded or worked off more than $2 million in fines by providing supplemental environmental projects for the state.
The latest projects were detailed in a May 28 letter to Natalie Creed, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s Hazardous Waste Bureau chief, from Teresa Perkins, director of the Environment and Sustainability Division at DOE.
The projects, which would all be completed by the end of 2020, include providing $700,000 in funding for roughly half the cost for a sewer upgrade project for Snake River Junior High and Snake River High School in Bingham County, Idaho.
The second-largest project provides $175,000 for a riparian and wetlands restoration project. The effort involves installing thousands of feet of fencing to keep livestock out of streams, and steps to prevent sediment and other contaminants from entering the Upper Snake River.
Other less costly projects include funding a study on a landfill nearing closure in Butte County in order to determine if the existing soil cover is sufficient for retirement. The federal agency will also pay for replacement of woodstoves used by residents around the town of Salmon by providing less-polluting heaters, such as propane stoves. The federal agency would also underwrite training for environmental regulators in Idaho.
