Six of Hanford’s single shell tanks are leaking waste into the ground, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday afternoon after meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu. That announcement came a week after Chu told Inslee that one of the tanks, T-111, appeared to be leaking, a first since pumpable liquids were removed in 2004. Whether there could be more than six tanks leaking has not been determined, Inslee said. Chu wants to personally study the data, according to the state of Washington. The discovery of additional leaking tanks “is disturbing news,” and raises more concerns about the condition of the rest of Hanford’s 149 single-shell tanks, the governor said. But there is no imminent health danger to the public from the leaks, he said, and DOE agreed. Some 67 tanks are believed to have leaked in the past. However, two of the newly discovered leaking tanks—T-203 and T-204—had not been suspected of leaking previously, said Suzanne Dahl of the Washington State Department of Ecology. The governor said DOE has had data about waste levels in the tanks for some time, but hadn’t properly evaluated it. A new study to look at anomalies in tank levels was launched last year by DOE and led to the discovery of the leaking tanks.
A new system for removing waste from the tanks is needed, and there are questions about where the retrieved waste would go, Inslee said. Inslee has called for new double-shell tanks to be built, but said that would take five years or more. Five of the six leaking single-shell tanks are among the 11 DOE has previously identified as possible transuranic waste that Hanford officials would like to send to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, if an agreement on a WIPP permit modification could be reached. One of the just-discovered leaking tanks, TY-105, holds 758,000 gallons. It has not been considered for potential designation as transuranic waste. The other four tanks added to the list of current leakers Friday—tanks T-203, T-204, B-203 and B-204—are smaller, with 55,000 gallons of capacity each. They are leaking at a suspected rate of about 15 gallons a year, Dahl said. T-111, the tank identified as a leaker a week earlier, has a capacity of 530,000 gallons. It and TY-105 are suspected of leaking up to 300 gallons a year. The leaking likely has continued over several years, Dahl said. Chu has assured Inslee that there will be immediate additional monitoring of the single-shell tanks. The federal government has moral and legal obligations to clean up Hanford and moving money from other Hanford projects to address the leaks is not acceptable to the state of Washington, Inslee said. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his staff continues to explore all legal options with the governor. “While the magnitude of the problem is deeply troubling, compounding these concerns are the way in which we continue to learn about them,” he said. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, plans to ask the Government Accountability Office to investigate Hanford’s tank monitoring and maintenance program, he said. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said the latest news underscores the urgency for a path forward for the Waste Treatment Plant and tank retrievals. This information is critical to making an informed decision about the need for additional tanks.”
