The state of Washington and the Department of Energy have jointly asked a federal judge for an extension of two milestones for retrieval of radioactive tank waste set in the court-enforced consent decree governing cleanup of the Hanford Site.
Washington state sued the federal agency in 2008, asking a federal judge to set new deadlines related to Hanford’s tank waste as it became clear DOE could not meet milestones set under the Tri-Party Agreement for the work. The lawsuit resulted in the consent decree.
Approval of the milestone extensions by U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson is a condition of a settlement agreement announced Sept. 19 to a separate lawsuit demanding better protection of Hanford workers from chemical vapors emitted by the tank-held radioactive waste produced by decades of plutonium production at Hanford.
The parties to the consent decree lawsuit are asking for two and a half additional years for DOE to retrieve waste from the next nine single-shell tanks at Hanford and transfer it to newer double-shell tanks. The milestone to retrieve waste from the vessels – five A Farm tanks and four AX Farm tanks – would be extended from March 31, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2026.
In addition, a pacing milestone to keep retrieval from the nine tanks on track would be extended by six months, from the end of 2020 to June 30, 2021. The milestone requires that the last three of the C Farm tanks be emptied to regulatory standards, which has been completed, and that the first two of the next nine tanks have waste retrieved.
Federal court-enforced milestones were set in the 2010 consent decree. As DOE found it could not meet some milestones for construction of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and tank waste retrieval, Malouf Peterson set new milestones in March 2016, including the two at issue now. By the end of 2016 DOE had given the states of Washington and Oregon notice that it was at serious risk of missing the two milestones. The request for milestone extensions would resolve the notice of serious risk.
The Energy Department said in the 2016 notice, and repeated in the request filed with the state Monday, that use of protective supplied air respirators have slowed the pace of work in the tank farms. In August 2016, tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council, a coalition of 15 Hanford unions, agreeing to require supplied air respirators for most work within the Hanford tank farms. In 2016, DOE said the cumbersome equipment and need to frequently switch out air tanks reduced work efficiency by 50 percent.
The new motion to amend the consent decree says DOE also is “engaged in ongoing analysis of non-vapors-related retrieval challenges and tank condition issues associated with tanks A-104 and A-105.” Although the court document did not explain the issue with the two tanks, they are the only ones among the nine that DOE classifies as “assumed leakers.” They are believed to have leaked in the past before most pumpable liquid waste was removed from Hanford’s single-shell tanks.
“DOE caveats that these issues under continued analysis and discussion may necessitate future issuance of a “serious risk” notice or may cause DOE to seek further amendment of the consent decree,” the court document said. “In addition, the parties are engaged in continuing discussions regarding other consent decree-related issues, and may at a later date – either jointly or individually – seek additional amendments to the consent decree or other relief.”
The vapors lawsuit that hinges on Malouf Peterson’s ruling on consent decree milestones was filed in September 2015 by the state of Washington, watchdog group Hanford Challenge, and the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598 against DOE and Washington River Protection Solutions. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice. The settlement agreement would put the lawsuit on hold while DOE continues to make safety improvements for Hanford workers in and around tank farms. Legally enforceable requirements include completing testing on a system that would destroy chemical vapors and on a high velocity fan system to expel diluted vapors high above workers’ breathing space. The settlement agreement also includes requirements for vapor monitoring and transparency of information.
