Washington state will regain access to certain Department of Energy data about the Hanford Site in settlement of a $1-million penalty the state issued against DOE in 2020, the parties announced Thursday.
As part of the settlement, DOE will create a system for the Washington state Department of Ecology to access documents that the state uses for compliance inspections in accordance with the Tri-Party Agreement that governs Hanford cleanup.
The electronic repository, with records and data on Hanford activities regulated by Ecology, should be operational by the end of 2024, DOE said via email.
In addition, DOE will make a reduced, in-kind penalty of $540,000 by completing two environmental restoration projects at the site, according to a state press release.
The extra environmental work concerns a site-wide weed control and habitat conservation project and restoration of some of the Gable Mountain area that was damaged by wildfire in 2020, a DOE spokesperson said via email.
The dispute over the records has simmered since December 2019, with DOE arguing Ecology lacks the right to unfettered access that might breach federal privacy laws. DOE has fought the penalty before the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board.
DOE has “consistently provided information required or requested by Washington state Department of Ecology, to develop and deliver the permits necessary to progress the important cleanup mission,” a spokesperson for the federal agency said via email. But Thursday’s settlement provides a mutually-agreeable resolution to some disputed areas, DOE said.
“Our job is to protect the people and environment in Washington,” Ecology Director Laura Watson said in the state press release. “In order to do our job, we need access to basic documents the U.S. Department of Energy is required to provide,” she said “We’re pleased to reach agreement with Energy on a solution that gets us what we need.”
“It is 2023 not 1953, the Energy Dept. should be finding ways to make the site more transparent, not less,” Nikolas Peterson, executive director of the Hanford Challenge citizens group said in an emailed statement. “Shame on Energy for trying to play games with the state and withholding critical information from Ecology,” Peterson added.
