Hanford’s annual cleanup budget priority meeting will be held Wednesday June 7 at the Richland Public Library. To register to watch via webinar go to June 7th on the Hanford event calendar. Public comment on fiscal 2019 needs will be accepted at [email protected] from June 7 to July 7. The meeting traditionally covers the next two fiscal budget years at Hanford.
The Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) says the Donald Trump administration’s budget request for fiscal 2018 is woefully inadequate. If enacted as proposed, it would result in a loss of more than 700 jobs at Hanford, according to the group.
The administration’s proposal would cut the entire Hanford budget – both the Richland Operations Office and Office of River Protection – by about $119 million from current spending, according to information from the staff of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
The Trump administration requested a combined $2.3 billion or so for Hanford for fiscal year 2018, which begins Oct. 1. That includes some $1.5 billion for the Office of River Protection that handles liquid-waste cleanup and $800 million for the Richland Operations Office, which helms the mostly-solid-waste cleanup of the site’s central plateau.
In both cases, the offices would get less funding in 2018 than they did under the 2017 omnibus appropriations bill signed into law May 2.
