Second Deadline Passes for Talks on Hanford Consent Decree With No Resolution

A second deadline came and went late last week without resolution for the Department of Energy and the state of Washington to reach an agreement on how to modify a court-enforced consent decree that helps govern the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste. The two sides have proposed differing approaches for modifying the consent decree after DOE acknowledged it would likely miss many remaining deadlines. After an initial 40-day dispute resolution period ended June 2, DOE and the state agreed to extend talks to June 27, after which the state could choose to have a court force DOE to accept its proposal. Now that the June 27 deadline has passed, it remains unclear whether the two sides will seek to keep talking. In a written response yesterday, a DOE spokesperson said, “The Department of Energy has had additional productive discussions with the State of Washington and remains interested in continuing those discussions to develop a mutually acceptable path forward.” In a separate response, a spokeswoman for Washington state Governor Jay Inslee said, “We’re evaluating our next steps based on the latest discussions and will share our decision with the public once it’s made.”