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Department of Ecology News Release - September 21, 2004
04-175
OLYMPIA - The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) has been fined $270,000 for violations at Hanford that state regulators say may be the "tip of the iceberg."
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued the fine to the USDOE for violating the state's dangerous-waste regulations. The violations include failing to report that mixed radioactive waste sent to Hanford from its Savannah River site in South Carolina was shipped without appropriate manifests; allowing untrained personnel to sign waste-verification documents; failing to maintain records verifying the contents of waste containers sent to Hanford from Savannah River; and failing to visually verify the contents of waste containers before they were sealed shut.
"They aren't following proper procedures to verify what's going into the drums of waste being sent to Hanford, so no one knows for sure what's in those drums," said Ecology Director Linda Hoffman. "This is nuclear waste we're talking about. The tracking system should be foolproof."
Compliance inspectors from Ecology discovered the violations during a routine inspection in April and through the course of the follow-up investigation.
USDOE sends waste samples from Hanford's underground tanks to the USDOE site in Savannah River for use in studying waste treatment methods. Residues from these studies can be shipped back to Hanford under an exclusion in state and federal dangerous-waste regulations. However, inspectors found that other waste, such as contaminated laboratory equipment or debris generated as part of the tests, also was shipped to Hanford.
On June 14, Ecology notified USDOE that the debris waste does not qualify under the exclusion and must be shipped as "off-site" waste, which requires proper documentation and notification. USDOE voluntarily agreed to suspend the shipments while Ecology investigated the matter.
Ecology's investigation revealed that at least 83 drums of debris waste have been shipped to Hanford from Savannah River since 1997. Documents verifying the contents of at least some of the sealed drums were signed by an employee who did not visually inspect the containers and was not trained to inspect containers.
In addition, some of the 83 drums are suspected of containing transuranic (TRU) elements. A court injunction issued in May 2003 bars USDOE from shipping TRU waste to Hanford, and state officials are studying whether the injunction has been violated.
The lengthy time frame for the violations, the nature of the violations and USDOE's poor history of compliance with environmental regulations all contributed to the amount of the penalty, said Mike Wilson, manager of Ecology's nuclear-waste program.
"This is a very serious offense, and we are concerned that it's just the tip of the iceberg," Wilson said. "The people who failed to verify and document the containers of debris waste coming from Savannah River are also responsible for verifying containers of waste generated at Hanford. At this point, we have no confidence in the waste tracking system at Hanford."
The penalty is the largest the state has ever issued to USDOE. Ecology also issued an order requiring USDOE to verify that it knows the contents of more than 83 drums of radioactive and hazardous waste stored at Hanford, to maintain original documentation of this verification, and to tamper-proof its record system.
"This penalty is a big, fat wake-up call," Hoffman said. "We need to see some immediate improvements to assure our citizens that the problems at Hanford are getting better, not worse."
USDOE may appeal the penalty and order to the Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days."
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Media contact: Sheryl Hutchison, communication director, 360-407-7004
Enforcement documents: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/nwp/enforcement.htm
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
