Wide-ranging talks between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Washington state Department of Ecology on radioactive waste issues at the Hanford Site have apparently not progressed beyond the starting line.
“The parties are still working through some preliminary arrangements,” Ecology spokesman Randy Bradbury said in a Jan. 23 email.
The agencies confirmed in October they were conducting scoping meetings to develop a mutually agreeable agenda for the “holistic” talks.
“The Department appreciates the discussions with the Washington Department of Ecology regarding our shared objective of advancing this difficult cleanup in a manner that provides long-term benefits for local communities, the region, the State, and the Nation,” a DOE spokesman said in a Wednesday email. The spokesman declined to elaborate further.
While Bradbury did not detail what might be delaying the meetings, there are a couple possible reasons in addition to the winter holidays.
For starters, there has been a leadership change at the Ecology Department. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) last month selected senior assistant state attorney general Laura Watson to succeed Maia Bellon, who retired effective Dec. 31. Ecology Deputy Director Polly Zehm is also scheduled to retire effective today.
In addition, the state is seeking to penalize DOE $1 million for allegedly refusing to share certain safety information regarding Hanford. The Energy Department has appealed to the Washington state Pollution Control Hearings Board.
The state agency believes DOE is withholding needed information on areas like the status of the underground storage tanks, and the extent of soil and groundwater contamination, as well as details on hazardous waste management.
The DOE countered in a legal brief filed Jan. 3 that it provides the state with relevant safety information on Hanford facilities but draws the line on granting Ecology “unrestricted electronic access” to a database that “is privileged, confidential, or otherwise protected under disclosure by federal law.”
A telephone prehearing conference call on the case was scheduled for yesterday, and another one is set for Feb. 26, according to Washington state Pollution Control Hearings Board website. The actual hearing is currently scheduled to start Dec. 15, according to the schedule.
The timetable for vitrification of low-activity radioactive waste into glass at the Waste Treatment Plant, treatment options for high-level waste, and removing waste from old single-shell tanks are among the likely topics for the upcoming discussions, according to letters exchanged between the sides in late 2019.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also expected to be involved in the talks as the third signatory to the 1989 Tri-Party Agreement that governs cleanup milestones for the center that made plutonium from World War II through the Cold War.
Last May, Bellon called for a frank discussion about treatment of 56 million gallons of tank waste at Hanford, and said the state could take DOE to court if they cannot work things out. The state believes DOE is dragging its feet on deadlines set in the Tri-Party Agreement, as well as a 2010 federal court consent decree on cleanup deadlines.
Former director Bellon wrote that she doubts DOE can meet its Tri-Party Agreement’s 2040 deadline for transferring all waste from single-shell tanks into double-shell tanks, then treating all the waste by 2047. The Ecology Department wants some new tanks installed prior to full operation of the vitrification plant, which is targeted for 2026. But the Energy Department considers new tank installation a costly short-term solution.
The parties have indicated they would like to wrap up the talks by July. Successful discussions could lead to mutually agreed-upon modifications to the current legal agreements.
