Weapons Complex Vol. 25 No. 42
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Weapons Complex Monitor
Article 17 of 17
October 31, 2014

At Richland

By Mike Nartker

Yakama Nation Preparing Lawsuit Over 300 Area Cleanup ROD

WC Monitor
10/31/2014

The Yakama Nation is preparing to sue the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency over the final record of decision for the Hanford 300 Area just north of Richland, Wash. The Yakama Tribal Council has provided formal notice to the federal agencies that a lawsuit could be filed in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court as soon as Dec. 9. The plan approved in the record of decision does not protect human health and the environment as required by law, the tribe said in a statement late this week. It wants a more aggressive plan for cleanup of uranium and other contaminants in the groundwater and it wants stricter standards than those set for industrial areas.

The Yakama Nation is not seeking a financial settlement in the lawsuit, but wants a ruling requiring DOE and EPA to come up with a more robust plan to protect the nearby Columbia River and the health of future generations, the tribe said. DOE and its regulators issued a final record of decision for the 300 Area in December. It is the first of six final plans that will be adopted to cover the 220 square miles of the river corridor. Cleanup of the 40 square miles of the 300 Area has been under way since the 1990s and most of it is expected to be completed by next fall. Work was done under interim cleanup decisions

Using an industrial cleanup standard for the area does not meet requirements for reasonably foreseeable uses that could result in maximum human exposure, the Yakama Nation said in its notice to the federal government. DOE said when the final cleanup plan was adopted that it plans cleanup to standards needed for unrestricted surface use of the land.  But the Hanford land use plan calls for continued industrial use of the 300 Area. Industrial standards cannot be used if there are no fences to keep people out, groundwater migrates off the site into the Columbia River and there could be future commercial, residential, tribal and recreational uses that will expose children, the tribe said. The shoreline of the Columbia River is used for fishing, swimming and recreation, the notice said.

Yakama Nation Questions Natural Attenuation for Groundwater Cleanup

The groundwater beneath the 300 Area is contaminated in places with uranium, tritium, nitrates and volatile organic chemicals like trichloroethene, the tribe said. The record of decision calls for natural attenuation of groundwater contaminants, with some extra help for uranium contamination. The Yakama Nation said there is no evidence that natural attenuation is a viable remedy for the contamination. The decision also does not consider that contaminants in central Hanford groundwater could migrate toward the 300 Area and compound contamination there.

The tribe also questioned the plan to add a binding solution to the soil to reduce the movement of uranium contamination to the groundwater while contamination in the groundwater dissipates over time. Phosphate would be added, which combines with uranium to create a uranium phosphate mineral that does not readily dissolve.

DOE said in December that it has studied the issue of uranium-contaminated groundwater for more than two decades and no better method is on the horizon. About 330 pounds of uranium per year is released to Columbia River from the Hanford 300 Area, according to DOE. But three irrigation outlets on the Franklin County side of the river release 3,500 pounds of uranium a year into the river from fertilizer and uranium that is naturally in the ground. In addition, the Yakima River adds about 8,800 pounds a year. Digging up the contaminated soil is not an option, DOE said in December. It would cost more than $1 billion and would fill an area measuring 1,000 feet by 1,000 feet in the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility in central Hanford.

 

DOE, Wash. Closure Complete Major Recycling Project

WC Monitor
10/31/2014

Three electrical substations at Hanford along the Columbia River have come down with the help of a subcontractor that worked for no money. Instead, Transformers Technologies of Salem, Ore., was compensated with the materials it recovered, which included copper, steel and oil. The Department of Energy figures the deal saved about $400,000 in taxpayer money, the amount it would have cost Washington Closure Hanford to do the work. It also was good for the environment, allowing beneficial reuse of the material, said Mark French, DOE director for Hanford cleanup along the Columbia River. Without the commercial recycling plan, more waste from the substations would have ended up in Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility in central Hanford, taking up valuable space.

More than 400,000 pounds of transformer, oil circuit breakers, wire and other electrical components will be recycled by Transformers Technologies, primarily as scrap. Washington Closure workers could have done all the work to tear down the unneeded electrical substations, but Transformers Technologies employees are experts, said Bill Wahler, who oversaw the project for Washington Closure. The Oregon company specializes in dismantling and recycling used electrical equipment and has access to disposal and reprocessing facilities authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency. “Going through the subcontractor who had experience was safer and more efficient,” Wahler said. “All the way around it was a smart way to go.”

The transformers are made of thick, hardened metal that would have caused heavy wear on the shear attachments of heavy equipment that Washington Closure would have used, Wahler said. It also freed up heavy equipment and staff to work on other cleanup projects. If Washington Closure had tackled the job, it would have had to ship oil off site to have PCB contamination removed and then have the oil returned to Hanford. Instead, Transformers Technologies handled the draining of more than 16,500 gallons of PCB-contaminated oil and shipped it to licensed facilities in Oregon and Alabama for reprocessing and reuse, Wahler said. Washington Closure crews took down a small building and the high metal framework where the electrical wires come into the substation after Transformers Technologies took elements off the framework for recycling. Lampson Crane was hired by Washington Closure to do the rigging and lifting activities on the project. The structures were surveyed to make sure they were free of radioactive contamination before any work by the outside firms began.

Most Above-Ground D&D in 300 Area Now Complete

The most recent substation to come down was constructed in 1949 and later expanded in the 300 Area as demand for electricity increased there. Early in the year, electrical substations near the B and D Reactors were removed. None was being used. The city of Richland has taken over electrical service for the 300 Area, where Pacific Northwest National Laboratory continues to use four buildings. Hanford’s land use plan calls for industrial use of the 300 Area once cleanup is completed. The removal of the substation completes most above-ground building demolition being done by Washington Closure in the 300 Area.

Earlier the contractor thought it was done with all above-ground demolition other than the 324 Building, where demolition has been delayed because of a highly radioactive spill into the soil beneath the building. However, a couple more facilities then were added to Washington Closure’s contract, including the electrical substation. Washington Closure continues to tear out some below-ground facilities in the 300 Area, including some piping and the remnants of the building for the below-ground Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor.

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DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.



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