Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor Vol. 27 No. 22
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Morning Briefing

Article of 10

March 17, 2014

DOE FINED $115K BY EPA FOR HANFORD ASBESTOS VIOLATION

By ExchangeMonitor

The Department of Energy was fined $115,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday for past asbestos management issues at Hanford. Asbestos contamination was left in the soil, creating new waste sites to be cleaned up, and waste containing asbestos from building demolition was not properly labeled when it was sent to the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility in central Hanford, said Dennis Faulk, EPA’s Hanford program manager. In the instance linked to the largest portion of the penalty, $85,000, vehicles that unloaded waste at ERDF were not properly marked to warn workers that the waste contained asbestos, according to EPA. Although other violations were found, the fine covers violations in the disposal of materials containing asbestos at ERDF. Violations in its operation there were judged to have more serious consequences because the landfill is the linchpin of Hanford cleanup, Faulk said.

EPA’s concerns are related to buildings demolished in 2009 and 2010, and DOE and its contractors were following regulations as they understood them at the time, according to DOE. In late 2011 the EPA inspector general issued an early-warning report saying removal of asbestos in certain ways at Hanford and elsewhere threatened health and safety. That led to changes in how work was done at Hanford. After concerns were raised by the EPA inspector general, EPA collected 22 samples at six Hanford sites in August 2012 and found 19 with asbestos, according to a letter sent Monday from EPA to DOE. The sites were among those where buildings had been demolished or where work with asbestos was underway. DOE has 15 days to dispute the violations linked to fines.

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