19 Apr Hanford High-Level Nuclear Waste Tank Leak

Leading Hanford Watchdog Calls for Criminal Investigation of Latest
Hanford High-Level Nuclear Waste Tank Leak
Leak called “Foreseeable Result of Deliberate, Illegal Delays in Emptying
Leaking Tank”
Energy Department dragged feet; Washington State settled allowing delay

 
For Info: Gerry Pollet, J.D. For Immediate Release: April 18, 2016
Executive Director, Heart of America Northwest
“The public’s voice for Hanford Cleanup”
(206)819-9015 cell
www.hanfordcleanup.org
A huge new leak of High-Level Nuclear Waste from a tank at Hanford is the direct result of
deliberate violations and cover-up of the first indications of the leak, and delays in emptying the
tank, says the region’s leading Hanford cleanup watchdog group, Heart of America Northwest.
On Sunday, a massive new leak of waste was discovered between the inner and outer walls of
Double Shell Tank AY-102. Evidence of the tank leaking was ignored for over a year until late in
2012.
“This new leak is a direct result of criminal inaction by the USDOE after a cover-up of the
leak, and Washington State Ecology agreeing to let USDOE take years to begin emptying
a leaking High-Level Nuclear Waste Tank,” said Gerry Pollet, director of Heart of America
Northwest, an environmental attorney and state legislator.
The federal Energy Department (USDOE) which runs Hanford, refused to follow federal and
state hazardous waste laws which require leaking tanks to be emptied immediately or as soon
as practicable. Rather than follow the law, USDOE spent three years arguing that it should just
watch the tank leak. It took Washington’s Department of Ecology, which regulates Hanford, six
months to respond to one USDOE proposal to do nothing. Ecology eventually issued an order to
have USDOE empty the tank beginning in September, 2014 – which USDOE appealed. Ecology
and USDOE settled for a delay under which USDOE only recently began emptying the tank.
“The latest massive leak – which will increase worker and public safety risks – is a direct and
foreseeable result of the Energy Department’s initial cover-up of the leaks followed by refusal to
follow the basic standard in our environmental laws, that leaking tanks have to be emptied
immediately,” said Pollet. “We urge Washington’s Attorney General to take legal action against
the USDOE to hold them responsible for the foreseeable harm caused by their willful delay in
complying with environmental laws.”
Six Other Tanks Leaking at Hanford:
In addition to Tank AY-102, evidence shows that between one and six of Hanford’s oldest
Single Shell Tanks are currently leaking or recently leaked. Leaks in Single Shell Tanks go
directly into the soil, unlike the leak from AY-102 which could be visually seen in the space
between the tank’s inner and outer walls. USDOE refuses to take action to empty these Single
Shell Tanks, and Washington Ecology has failed to issue orders for the tanks to be emptied.
###