From bbright@pinc.com Tue Mar 24 20:14:19 1998
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 17:34:17 -0800
From: b brightwell <bbright@pinc.com>
To: NanooseNet@mail.island.net
Subject: NN: Hanford

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March 23, 1998 

                Hanford nuclear contamination still a mess,
                Congress says

                WASHINGTON (AP) ­ Congressional auditors accused the
U.S. Energy
                Department of mishandling nuclear waste at the Hanford
reservation in
                Washington state, and a senator questioned whether the
department should
                remain in charge of the cleanup effort. 
                 The department has no strategy in place to address
radioactive wastes that
                are leaking out of storage tanks into the ground water
and which eventually
                could make their way into the Columbia River, the
General Accounting
                Office said Monday. 
                 Furthermore, the department doesn't really know what
information is
                needed to make the proper cleanup decisions, the report
said. 
                 "This report clearly shows that DOE has been sticking
its head in the
                contaminated sand and ignoring the growing body of
scientific evidence that
                leakage...presents a major problem that could threaten
to bring nuclear
                contamination into the Columbia River watershed," said
Senator Ron
                Wyden (D-Ore.). 
                 Since the GAO launched its review last year, DOE has
announced plans to
                develop a strategy for the leaking wastes by this
October. The Senate
                appropriations committee last week also approved an
additional $2 million
                to study Hanford's "vadose zone" ­ the area between the
surface and the
                aquifer, or underground river. 
                 But Ohio Senator John Glenn, ranking Democrat on the
Senate
                governmental affairs committee, said he warned DOE six
years ago that
                area of study was "seriously inadequate. 
                 "After all this inexcusable delay, continued failure to
plan and implement an
                assessment program will raise serious questions about
whether DOE should
                remain in charge of this program," Glenn said. 
                 The GAO report concluded "what outside experts have
been saying for
                some time: 
                 "The department's understanding of how wastes move
through the vadose
                zone to the groundwater is inadequate to make key
technical decisions on
                how to clean up the wastes at the Hanford site in an
environmentally sound
                and cost-effective manner." 
                 James Owendoff, acting assistant energy secretary for
environmental
                management, acknowledged in a response included in the
GAO report the
                potential impact of the contaminants on groundwater is
of particular
                concern. 
                 "There are significant uncertainties and data gaps in
our understanding of
                the inventory, distribution and movement of contaminants
in the vadose
                zone," Owendoff wrote. 
                 "This information is essential in evaluating the impact
of radioactive or
                otherwise hazardous releases to the environment." 
                 At least 67 of the 177 underground tanks are suspected
to have leaked,
                Hanford manager John Wagoner said. Liquid wastes have
been pumped
                from all but four of the suspected leakers.

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