Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
4/18/2014
Washington state late this week rejected a proposal put forward by the Department of Energy to modify the 2010 consent decree that governs the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste. DOE had proposed employing a phased approach to getting the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in operation that would entail establishing a direct feed capability for the plant’s Low Activity Waste Facility and getting that portion in operation by the end of 2022, with milestones for completion and startup of the WTP’s two other major facilities—the Pretreatment and High-Level Waste facilities—to be set later once technical issues are fully resolved. While agreeing with a phased approach for the WTP, the Washington state Attorney General’s office said in an April 18 letter to attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice that DOE’s proposal “lacks sufficient specificity, accountability and enforceability.”
The state’s letter goes on to say that DOE’s proposal “fails to mitigate the impact that delays in achieving operations of the entire WTP, and any associated extension necessary to accommodate such delays under the Consent Decree, will have. Unless mitigated, these WTP delays will further postpone retrieving waste from Hanford’s single-shell tanks (SSTs) and completing the treatment of Hanford’s tank waste, including providing for supplemental treatment.” DOE officials were not available for comment on the state’s letter as of press time this week.
DOE Proposal ‘Turns Premise of the Consent Decree on Its Head’
Currently, the consent decree requires operations to begin at the WTP in 2019, with full plant operations to get underway by 2022. All waste would be retrieved from Hanford’s single-shell tanks by 2040, with all tank waste treatment to be completed by 2047. However, DOE and Washington state have been in negotiations on modifying the consent decree after the Department warned the state that it is at risk of missing the remainder of the WTP-related milestones in the consent decree, as well as some milestones tied to waste retrieval from Hanford’s single-shell tanks. In contrast to DOE’s proposal, Washington state has called for a significant increase in enforceable milestones tied to making progress on the WTP, along with the creation of millions of gallons of new double-shell tank waste storage capability and other interim stabilization measures to help reduce the risks posed by the aging tanks. With the state having rejected DOE’s proposal, it remains to be seen if the two sides will now enter into a formal 40-day dispute resolution process.
In its letter this week, Washington state said DOE’s proposal would give the Department too much control over when the remaining Hanford vit plant milestones would be set. “The main triggers for setting additional milestones would be left almost entirely to Energy’s exclusive control, with little accountability to Washington or the Court,” the letter states. DOE’s “rolling milestone approach,” the letter says, “effectively shifts control over the substance and pace of such tasks to Energy’s internal decision-making. This is not appropriate in a court order intended to remedy Energy’s non-compliance with applicable law.”
DOE’s proposal “turns the premise of the Consent Decree on its head,” the state’s letter says. “Rather than the Consent Decree dictating Energy’s actions to come into compliance with the law, Energy’s proposal would have Energy determining how, when and at what cost it will undertake actions under the Consent Decree, thereby resulting in additional delays at the expense of the people of the State of Washington.”
DOE Proposal Takes Consent Decree ‘Back in Substance’
Washington state also criticized the Department’s proposal for failing to mitigate delays in completing the retrieval of waste from Hanford’s single-shell tanks due to the additional time needed to complete the WTP. “Although Energy’s proposal would still have 19 SSTs retrieved by 2022, the current and future delay in achieving full WTP operations is likely to set back the rest of the SST retrieval and tank waste treatment missions,” the state’s letter says. “Energy’s proposal thus also takes the Consent Decree a step back in substance, since it would no longer support achieving the retrieval and treatment ‘end dates’ established as part of the 2010 settlement.”
The state’s letter goes on to say: “This net loss in Consent Decree effectiveness in unacceptable to Washington. Completing the SST retrieval mission on the current compliance schedule is essential, given the already compromised leak integrity of the SST system. Timely completing the tank waste treatment mission is essential to completing the retrieval mission; necessary to convert Hanford’s tank waste to a safer form; and necessary to maximize the use of existing infrastructure before it too needs to be replaced.”
