Third Hanford Tank at Risk of Not Being Emptied by Deadline, DOE Says

The Department of Energy notified the states of Washington and Oregon this week that a third Hanford waste tank is at serious risk of not being emptied by the deadline in the 2010 court-enforced consent decree. DOE is required to have the 16 tanks in the C Tank Farm emptied by Sept. 30. “Ecology is disappointed that the U.S. Department of Energy won’t meet the requirement of the federal court order,” said the Washington State Department of Ecology in a statement. “We are also disappointed that U.S. DOE did not inform us when they expect to complete this requirement. The state continues to consider all options for addressing this and other consent decree requirements.”

DOE earlier notified the states that all the remaining deadlines for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in the consent decree were at serious risk of being missed. DOE and Washington state have until Oct. 5 for either to ask the federal court to intervene in consent decree requirements, following a period of negotiations that have so far been unsuccessful. The most recent consent decree notification is for Tank C-111, where equipment issues have delayed retrieval of waste. “While this delay is unfortunate, the department has completed retrievals of 13 single-shell tanks, and remains committed to completing tank retrievals in a manner that is protective of workers, the public and the environment,” DOE said in a statement. The 13 tanks include 12 at C Farm and Tank S-112, which is not covered by the consent decree. That leaves four C Farm tanks not declared empty to regulatory standards with the deadline days away.