A dozen workers this week reported symptoms or suspicious odors that could be related to chemical vapors from waste stored at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
Thursday afternoon, three workers reported a suspicious ammonia-like odor outside a facility used to switch out empty air bottles for full containers to use with supplied air respirators within Hanford’s waste tank farms. Because the facility is outside of tank farm fence lines, the employees were not wearing respiratory protection. No work that disturbs tank waste, which can increase the possibility of chemical vapor releases, was being performed at the time, according to tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). The three workers, two of whom reported potential exposure symptoms, received medical evaluations and were released to return to work.
A day earlier nine workers reported smelling a suspicious odor at a tent used for putting on protective gear before entering the AX Tank Farm. About 32 workers were in the vicinity. One worker said a portable area array unit set up inside the tent started beeping, but the tent was not evacuated for about 10 minutes. The instrument monitors air for ammonia and volatile organic compounds and transmits data to another Hanford location where it is observed on a computer monitor.
WRPS records show the instrument was reported to have sounded an alarm at 8:08 a.m. Workers also reported smelling an ammonia-like odor and the work supervisor in the change tent notified the central shift office of the odor reports. At 8:10 a.m. the central shift office declared a possible chemical vapors incident and workers were directed to leave the area, according to WRPS. Workers already in the AX Tank Farm also were directed to exit. WRPS said it later determined the alarm sounded because an air-intake on the area array unit was blocked rather than because it had detected chemical vapors.
Of the nine workers who reported odors, four also experienced symptoms. Those workers and two others requested medical evaluations and went to on-site medical providers. They were cleared to return to work, according to WRPS. Although symptoms are not made public because of health privacy laws, typical symptoms include headaches, shortness of breath, coughing, and a metallic taste in the mouth.
The Hanford tank farms contain 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste that was the byproduct of plutonium production operations over several decades. Hanford Challenge, a worker advocacy group, says some workers have been made seriously ill and even died from exposure to chemical vapors through the years at Hanford. The organization has joined with Washington state and Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598 in a federal lawsuit demanding increased worker protection from vapors at Hanford.
More than 50 workers reported potential vapor exposures over a period of weeks last spring.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson expressed outrage on Twitter over the events.
“Feds declare safety of workers ‘top priority’ at Hanford; multiple workers report chemical exposure symptoms daily since statement,” the state’s top prosecutor wrote in a message, referencing a WRPS statement released late last month.
NIOSH Report
Many Hanford Site tank farm workers and union leadership don’t trust the Department of Energy and Washington River Protection Solutions’ management of chemical vapor issues, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said in a report this week.
DOE in June asked NIOSH, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to review worker health issues associated with Hanford tank waste. The NIOSH team visited the Washington state facility twice in July.
Distrust is related to worker perceptions of a lack of transparency, miscommunication between labor and management, and management skepticism that vapors are making workers sick, according to the report. “High profile attention from the WA state attorney general, congressional representatives, the media, advocacy groups, and DOE inspector general have intensified worker distrust and contributed to an adversarial and contentious relationship,” the report says. Also contributing to the distrust are employee concerns that the worker protection program is overly focused on monitoring for chemical vapors rather than controlling vapors.
Employees have long perceived that the workers’ compensation program is unfair. The program is an issue of contention between tank farm personnel and DOE and contractor representatives assigned to address questions and issues on compensation, the report says. Workers believe they face an excessive burden to demonstrate that health conditions are related to work at the tank farms and are frustrated when the administrator of the program, Penser North America, disputes claims due to insufficient proof of exposure or because a health effect cannot be sufficiently linked to the work.
Some Hanford contractor and DOE officials told the NIOSH review team that certain union officials and workers are not interacting with management in good faith, despite a significant investment of money into the vapor protection program and demonstrations of a strong commitment to resolve concerns. The NIOSH team agreed that there have been significant investments in monitoring technology, hiring of industrial hygiene technicians and occupational safety and health staff, forming technical worker-management groups, and establishing programs and procedures to address worker health and safety issues at the tank farms. It also noted as a key finding that thousands of air samples have been taken, with few, if any, exposures exceeding occupational limits set to protect workers.
A suite of new monitoring technologies being tested provides “a very comprehensive, state-of-the-art approach to better understanding the potential for chemical exposures,” the report says. The equipment holds the promise to provide actionable information regarding vapor sources, compounds present, contaminant migration, trends, and possible explanations or predictors of odors or health symptoms, NIOSH said.
Despite the resources committed to new analytical instruments at the tank farms, workers have valid concerns about the limitations of the protection program, the NIOSH team found. About 1,800 chemicals have been found in different Hanford waste storage tanks, with independent experts designating 59 as chemicals of potential concern. Occupational exposure limits have not been developed for all chemicals that might be present, particularly during short-term exposures, the report says. And the effects of mixtures of chemicals also are not known.
The NIOSH team recommended increased administrative controls to protect workers, such as minimizing the number of employees who enter the tank farms and relocating ancillary personnel and offices away from the tank farms if they do not need to be based nearby. A conservative approach should be used for establishing the tank farm perimeters. Workers are now required to use supplied air respirators to enter the tank farms, but that level of respiratory protection for routine work should be considered a temporary control only, the report says.
There should be a focus on improving labor-management interaction and communication, according to the NIOSH review team. DOE and its tank farm contractor leadership and staff should acknowledge health and exposure concerns as legitimate. Management and industrial hygiene supervisors should spend time frequently in the tank farms to ensure availability, address worker questions, and demonstrate commitment to worker safety and health, the report says It also recommends a review of tank farm worker medical surveillance data to help establish the most appropriate occupational medical care for workers.
In a memo to employees, WRPS President Mark Lindholm said company management is reviewing the report and working with DOE on a “path forward” based on the NIOSH recommendations.