Six workers received “precautionary medical evaluation” Wednesday following possible exposure to vapors from waste tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state, tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions said.
The workers said they detected odors Wednesday morning near the AX Tank Farm, and four indicated they were experiencing symptoms of exposure. All were approved to return to work following their examination, WRPS said in a memo to employees. Three other employees said they noticed odors but did not need medical evaluation.
The employees were putting on gear for different operations in the tank farm, in a dressing area outside the zone in which supplied air respirators must be used. All workers in the dressing facility, and in the tank farm itself, were directed to exit the area.
No waste-disturbing activities, which the Tri-City Herald noted can make vapors more likely, were underway at the time of the incident.
The contractor said samples taken in the area were “compliant with safety standards.” Workers were allowed to return to the tank farm.
The tank farms at the Department of Energy site hold 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste left over from plutonium production operations dating back to World War II. Fears over health effects from vapor exposure are a longstanding concern at the facility; more than 50 workers reported possible exposures last spring, and DOE faces a lawsuit from Washington state and two co-plaintiffs seeking greater protection for personnel working in and around the tank farms. The trial for the lawsuit is scheduled for September 2017, but the state, watchdog group Hanford Challenge, and Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598 have requested it be postponed to February 2018, the Herald reported.
