Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 34 No. 47
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Weapons Complex Monitor
Article 4 of 9
December 08, 2023

DOE, EPA agree some Building 324 cleanup can continue as comment sought

By Wayne Barber

Some cleanup will continue at DOE’s Building 324 at the Hanford Site in Washington state even as the government takes public comment on proposed changes to the work, federal officials told an advisory committee Tuesday.

Department of Energy Hanford Site manager Brian Vance and David Einan, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 10 Superfund manager at Hanford, told the Hanford Advisory Board their agencies and Washington state have agreed in principle on how to move ahead at 324. The EPA had expressed misgivings about DOE’s plans to deviate from a previously agreed upon cleanup regimen. 

There was “a very productive meeting with EPA last week,” Vance said. This “move[d] the facility in the direction of deactivation” while going through EPA procedures for changing the current cleanup plan, which is part of a 2013 record of decision.

Asbestos removal and other remediation work can continue for now, Vance said. He added that everyone wants to see the old research building taken down and the soil remediated. Details including upcoming public comment timelines are being worked out, the DOE and EPA officials said. 

This summer EPA balked at the idea DOE could unilaterally revise plans for stabilizing the structure and remediating highly-radioactive soil some 1,000 feet or from the Columbia River. There is a Tri-Party Agreement milestone for the DOE Office of Environmental Management to remove the contaminated soil by 2025 and take down the 324 Building by 2030.

But in June, Amentum-led DOE contractor Central Plateau Cleanup suspended key work after tests indicated far more contaminated soil under the building than earlier thought. DOE has said more time is needed to reformulate plans to protect workers and the public in light of the extent of the contaminated soil. A research building used for more than three decades, through the mid-1990s, demolition of 324 has been a priority for DOE and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) for years.

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