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Department of Ecology News Release - October 12, 2006
06-209
YAKIMA - Decision makers from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) will share the most current information on cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation during a series of "state of the site" meetings slated in the coming weeks.
The meetings will provide an opportunity for people to express their concerns and recommend priorities regarding cleanup and budget issues at the 586-square-mile Hanford site, where the Department of Energy is engaged in the world's largest environmental cleanup.
Meetings are scheduled in Kennewick, Seattle, Hood River, Ore., and Spokane,. The first hour of the meetings will feature an open-house format where stakeholders and agencies will present information at informal display tables. The remainder of each meeting will focus on the agencies hearing from the public.
In 1989, the Energy Department, EPA and the state of Washington entered into a legally enforceable cleanup agreement, known as the Tri-Party Agreement, establishing milestones to achieve clean up at the former plutonium production complex. The Hanford site played a pivotal role in the nation's defense from the 1940s through the Cold War.
The meetings provide an opportunity for the public to meet with the Tri-Party agencies to receive updates on progress at the site.
Meetings are scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. on:
For meeting information, contact Nolan Curtis, Department of Ecology, at 509-372-7954.
More information is available online at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/nwp/sos2006.htm.
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Media contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, public information manager, (509) 575-2610
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
