The Tri-Party Agencies at Hanford plan a series of public meetings starting Wednesday to discuss a major set of proposed changes to milestones for much of the remaining Department of Energy Richland Operations Office cleanup work in central Hanford and along the Columbia River. The Tri-Party Agreement has had about 450 changes through the years but this package of changes is among the 10 most significant, said John Price, the Tri-Party Agreement section manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology. Hanford regulators have known for several years that central Hanford milestones were not achievable. The Richland Operations Office budget has been focused on cleaning up most of the Hanford River Corridor by 2015, delaying cleanup work farther from the river.
The Tri-Party Agencies – DOE, the state and the Environmental Protection Agency – have worked out a proposed new schedule that would extend the deadline for completing remedial investigations and feasibility studies for much of central Hanford, with the exception of the underground waste storage tanks and huge processing plants. The deadline for the investigations and studies would be extended from December 2016 to June 2026. The records of decision that would follow would be used to set new milestones to complete cleanup on those project. The current deadline for that cleanup is September 2024. A deadline for submitting plans for cleanup of the processing plants PUREX, REDOX and B Plant would be extended from September 2022 to June 2026. The new milestones also would extend deadlines for some remaining work near the Columbia River. The new deadline for cleanup of the 618-11 Burial Ground and the spilled waste beneath the 324 Building would be extended for three years to September 2021. The 324 Building also would be required to be demolished by then.
The first public meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time Wednesday at the Richland Red Lion Hanford House. To watch a live webinar of the first meeting, go to 1.usa.gov/20lWkrz. Meetings also are planned Nov. 17 at the University of Washington Horticultural Center in Seattle: Nov. 18 at the Marriot Waterfront in Portland: and Nov. 19 at the Best Western in Hood River, Ore. Times will be announced. Comments may be submitted until Dec. 11 to Kristen.Skopeck@rl.doe.gov.
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