Seattle office of the Department
of Community Trade and Economic Development
10 a.m. Monday, November 14, 2005
As
prepared for delivery
Thank you for joining us today. Here with me this morning are Attorney General Rob McKenna, state Ecology Director Jay Manning, and state Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings.
In 1989, as Director of the Department of Ecology, I signed the Hanford Tri-Party Agreement. Jay Manning, who I appointed as the current Director of Ecology, was one of my lead negotiators. The agreement is a consent order that requires a comprehensive investigation and cleanup of the site according to a binding and enforceable schedule.
Hanford is a highly contaminated site that poses a very real threat to Washington’s citizens and the health of the Columbia River. The Tri-Party Agreement is one of my proudest achievements, and it has been an incredible success. It has driven cleanup of Hanford forward in a very significant way.
Unfortunately, we are here because the federal government has embarked on a dangerous course of action that threatens the health and safety of Washington State. The government’s actions place many thousands of our people, our neighbors to the south, and some of our most valuable natural resources at risk. Frankly, I have never been more discouraged than I am now about the federal government’s willingness to clean up Hanford.
Actions by the President and the federal Energy Department threaten to derail Hanford cleanup, just when the Energy Department was making real on-the-ground progress.
Let me take a moment to remind you of what is at stake here . . .
It makes no sense to stop construction now. But because of the actions of the President and the Energy Department, the future of the treatment plant – and Hanford cleanup –is in serious jeopardy. There are two major reasons:
Let me repeat -- one week ago, at the President’s request and over the strong objections of our state’s congressional delegation, a congressional conference committee agreed to cut $100 million dollars from Waste Treatment Plant construction.
Meanwhile, President Bush’s budget-cutters also have proposed a separate action in Congress to cut another $100 million dollars from the United States government’s obligation to complete the Waste Treatment Plant.
The President’s budget requests clearly violate the federal government’s legal obligation to commence Waste Treatment Plant operations in 2011, and its commitment to seek adequate funding to meet the 2011 “hot start” deadline.
While this is happening in our nation’s capital, Hanfords deteriorating tanks pose a growing threat to the Columbia River, just outside the Tri-Cities and upstream from many other communities, including Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.
Hanford cleanup is not one of those pork barrel projects that you hear about in Congress.
Those 177 aging storage tanks hold 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste, toxic solvents and heavy metals.
Think of it . . . 53 million gallons.
That is the equivalent of a Supertanker such as the Exxon Valdez, nearly full. It’s also the equivalent of 2,650 rail cars!
The tanks are only a few miles from the Columbia River. A huge plume of contamination from the tanks and other sources poses a direct threat to the River. The Hanford Reach of the Columbia River is the spawning area of what remains the most important single run of salmon in the Northwest – the Columbia River Fall Chinook run. This environmental and economic treasure is just one of the resources put at risk by delaying the Waste Treatment Plant.
Washingtonians are loyal Americans. We are proud of our role in helping to win the Cold War through our contributions to America’s military and nuclear deterrence capability.
Now, it is time for President Bush and our national government to return that loyalty by living up to their legally binding commitment to clean up the mess at Hanford.
Budget cuts of $200 million dollars or more at Hanford, combined with Energy Department project management problems, would delay the startup of the Waste Treatment Plant until at least 2018 – and possibly longer.
This violates the Tri-Party Agreement, which was signed in 1989 during the administration of President George H.W. Bush by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Washington.
Since 1989, there have been many delays – too many – in the design and construction of the Waste Treatment Plant, which is the cornerstone of Hanford cleanup. This plant was supposed to be operational in 1999. You can see the domino effect of these delays in our chart of missed deadlines.
However, in recent years, we have seen real progress from the U.S. Department of Energy in designing and building the treatment plant. Let me repeat – the plant is over 35% complete and we our federal government has invested almost $3 billion dollars.
Equally important, we have started the process of removing waste from single-shell tanks. Three tanks are already empty. Three more are being emptied now. However, removing waste from the leaking single-shell tanks will stop soon if the Waste Treatment Plant is not finished. Every year that passes without an operational Waste Treatment Plant is another year that high level radioactive waste sits in deteriorating single-shell tanks a few miles from the Columbia River.
It is unconscionable for the federal government to reverse course now and delay construction again.
I have been told there is nothing we can do to stop the federal budget cuts at Hanford. That’s the conventional wisdom back there in Washington, D.C.
Well, I have news for the budget-cutters in the nation’s capital:
This cannot stand. It will not stand.
Washington will not sit idly by while the United States government breaks its commitments to the people of our state and puts our health and resources at risk
Nor can federal officials turn their backs on the people who live along the Columbia – or on the future generations that will need the river and its resources.
I want to thank our state’s congressional delegation – in particular, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell and Congressman Doc Hastings – for their efforts to stop the short-sighted budget-cutters.
However, our members of Congress should not have to fight this battle alone.
Hanford’s nuclear waste is not a Washington state problem. It is the nation’s problem and responsibility.
I implore President Bush and Energy Secretary Bodman to move forward, without further delay, and get the cleanup of radioactive waste back on track. I realize that Secretary Bodman inherited this problem. And I do want to recognize his efforts to maintain some forward momentum. He is trying to do the right thing, but unfortunately, the rest of the current administration isn’t all that interested in cleaning up Hanford.
If the President does not join us in getting the Hanford cleanup back on track, we are prepared to hold him and our national government to the consent order that was signed by the administration of the first President Bush.
We are looking at all of our options for keeping the Hanford cleanup on track.
We are working with the congressional delegation to stop the second $100 million dollar cut requested by the President.
We are working to improve next year’s Hanford construction budget, which is now being developed in Washington, D.C.
One of our options is litigation.
I have to tell you . . . the last thing we want to do in Washington State is to sue our national government. We do not want to spend money on litigation . . . litigation that should not be necessary.
Nor do we want to have to use our enforcement powers against our federal government.
However, we are prepared to do whatever it takes to get the Hanford nuclear cleanup back on track and to protect Washingtonians from these highly radioactive contaminants.
Let me be very clear:
We cannot afford more delays by the federal government at Hanford. We have seen too many delays already.
Many of the tanks at Hanford have leaked. It is inevitable that all 177 will leak . . . unless the federal government completes the treatment plant and removes the waste from the tanks.
Today, I am sending President Bush a letter outlining my concerns and asking for his help.
I am calling on him to live up to the government’s obligation to protect the health and safety of our people, our communities, and the Columbia River and its many valuable resources – for this and future generations.
And now I would like to introduce Attorney General McKenna for a few words. Jay Manning, Ecology Director and Jeff Koenings, Director of the Fish & Wildlife Department, are here to answer your questions.
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