A federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion for a preliminary injunction to increase protections from chemical vapors for Hanford Site workers until a lawsuit is decided. Judge Thomas Rice of U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington denied all three of the measures requested by Washington state, the local watchdog organization Hanford Challenge, and Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598. The plaintiffs “failed to make a clear showing to meet their burden that an imminent and substantial endangerment to health may presently exist,” Rice wrote in his order.
The judge cautioned that his preliminary injunction determination should not be read as a finding that Hanford workers have not been harmed by chemical vapors in the past. But safety measures in place now, including requiring workers to use supplied air respirators to enter any tank farm, have prevented chemical vapor exposures since they were implemented, he said. The plaintiffs wanted the court to mandate the current requirement for supplied air respirators within tank farms; to expand the vapor protection area where the respirators are required to 200 feet beyond individual tank farm fences when waste is being disturbed within a tank farm; and to require the use of additional monitoring and alarming equipment during waste-disturbing activities.
The lawsuit filed against the Department of Energy and its tank farm contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), seeking better protection of Hanford workers, is scheduled to go to trial in September.
