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For more information on any of the comment periods, email hanford@ecy.wa.gov or call the Hanford Cleanup line at 800-321-2008, join the Hanford mailing list, and view the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) public events calendar. In addition to what's available on our website, documents open for public comment are also available at Public Information Repositories.
The U.S. Department of Energy has applied for an air permit for a new sewage lagoon near Hanford's 200 West Area. The lagoon will treat wastes from workers' bathrooms via evaporation. The emissions to the air are low and don't meet the threshold to require a public comment period. Still, if you request a public comment period, we will hold one.
The deadline to ask for a public comment period is Monday, January 30, 2012. Request a comment period by emailing Hanford@ecy.wa.gov, or calling the Hanford Cleanup Line at 800-321-2008.
The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) is considering installing a natural gas pipeline to support WTP and 242-A Evaporator operations at Hanford. Natural gas would be the primary fuel source for WTP and would replace the 242-A Evaporator’s current use of diesel fuel to generate steam. The 30-mile pipeline would extend from the existing Williams Northwest Pipe transmission line in Franklin County, under the Columbia River, and to Hanford's 300 Area.
USDOE awarded a task order worth up to $5 million to Cascade Natural Gas Corp. to prepare the environmental impact statement (EIS) for this project. The purpose of this public comment period is to gather feedback about what should be included in the EIS.
Douglas Chapin, NEPA document manager
(naturalgaseis@rl.gov)
USDOE Richland Operations Office
P.O.
Box 550, MSIN A5-11
Richland, WA 99352
The Department of Ecology invites public comment on a waste water discharge permit for Hanford′s 200 Area Treated Effluent Disposal Facility (TEDF). The liquids that TEDF treats are from ventilation and heating and cooling systems, steam condensate from drinkable water, rainwater, and untreated Columbia River water. They are discharged to two 5-acre infiltration ponds east of Hanford′s 200 East Area. The draft permit ensures the discharged liquids protect all existing and future beneficial uses of the groundwater.
Stacy Nichols (Hanford@ecy.wa.gov)
3100 Port of Benton Blvd
Richland, WA 99354
(509) 372-7917
The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington State Department of Ecology (the Tri-Party Agreement [TPA] agencies) are proposing revisions to the Hanford Public Involvement Plan (also known as the Hanford Site TPA Public Involvement Community Relations Plan). The Hanford Public Involvement Plan outlines ways the public can be involved in Hanford Site cleanup decision-making processes and serves as the overall guidance document for public participation and outreach activities at Hanford.
Paula Call (CRP2011@rl.gov)
U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office
P.O. Box 550,
MS: A7-75
Richland, WA 99352
The Department of Ecology is proposing a modification to the Hanford Facility Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit, Dangerous Waste Portion for the Treatment, Storage, and Disposal of Dangerous Waste for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The co-permittees are the U.S. Department of Energy Office of River Protection and Bechtel National, Inc.
The changes are four design packages that will affect the Pretreatment Facility (PTF) at WTP. PTF will prepare Hanford’s tank waste for vitrification (immobilization in glass).
Erika Holmes, Public
Involvement, Tank Waste Treatment Section (hanford@ecy.wa.gov)
3100 Port of
Benton Blvd.
Richland, WA 99354
The full proposal is available for viewing at the Richland Ecology office (address above).
The Navy has prepared a draft environmental assessment for disposing eight decommissioned, defueled reactors from the USS Enterprise. The world's first nuclear-powered naval aircraft carrier, Enterprise, is scheduled for decommissioning in 2013, following 51 consecutive years of service. Because the Navy prefers to dispose of the Enterprise reactors at the Hanford Nuclear Site, the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), Hanford site owner, is a cooperating agency. The reactors would be stored in Trench 94 in Hanford's 200 East Area, where decommissioned submarine reactor cores are stored.
Mary Mascianica, Public Affairs Office (Code 1160)
Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility
1400 Farragut Ave., Bldg.
850, 5th floor
Bremerton, WA, 98314 | Phone: (360) 476-7111
The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) have released the 2011 Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule and Cost Report. The Lifecycle Report is a milestone requirement (M-036-01) under the Tri-Party Agreement.
The Lifecycle Report serves as the basis for preparing budget requests and for providing informational briefings. The Lifecycle Report supports continued discussion with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ecology on how and when USDOE will complete cleanup, and how milestone changes will affect lifecycle scope, schedule, and cost.
Shannon Ortiz, Lifecycle Report Project Manager
(LCCSS@rl.gov)
U.S. Department of Energy
Richland Operations Office
P.O. Box 550, MSIN: A5-16
Richland, WA 99352
The Blue Ribbon Commission for America’s Nuclear Future (BRC), formed by the Secretary of Energy in January 2010 to consider alternatives for long-term storage of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste, has submitted a draft report to the Secretary of Energy. The BRC will consider public comments when preparing its final report, which is due in January 2012.
The report recommends a new strategy for managing spent nuclear fuel, which has seven key elements.
Mr. Timothy A. Frazier
(brc@nuclear.energy.gov), Designated Federal Officer
Blue Ribbon Commission on
America’s Nuclear Future, website
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) would like input on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for Integrated Vegetation Management on the Hanford Site. The EA analyzes proposed actions to manage invasive plants and noxious weeds on the Hanford Site through a combination of prescribed burning; physical, chemical and biological methods; and re-vegetation with native plant species. USDOE will consider all comments before issuing the final EA and Determination.
Steve Stites, NEPA Document Manager (IVMEA@rl.gov)
U.S. Department of Energy
P.O. Box 550,
A6-35
Richland, WA 99352
The Department of Ecology invites public comment on a draft permit for air emissions from some of the double-shell tanks at Hanford. The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) is proposing an upgrade to the ventilation system at the 241-AP, 241-SY, and 241-AY/AZ double-shell tank farms. This upgrade will better protect workers as they mix waste in the tanks so it can be sent to the Waste Treatment Plant for processing. However, this upgrade will increase emissions of dimethyl mercury to the atmosphere, which requires a health impact analysis and public comment.
The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are accepting comments on their proposed plan to clean up 21 waste sites in Hanford's Central Plateau, or 200 Area. Liquid waste from plutonium production was dumped to trenches, tile fields, and other ground disposal structures. This waste contained low levels of plutonium, cesium, and other radioactive isotopes and toxic chemicals that have contaminated the soil. The waste came from the Plutonium Finishing Plant, the Plutonium and Uranium Extraction Plant, and other facilities in the 200 Area.
USDOE and EPA prefer to remove, treat, and dispose of the plutonium-contaminated soil at an off-site facility. For the sites containing cesium, the agencies propose maintaining and enhancing the existing soil cover to provide a 15-foot clean soil cover over the contamination. This action will limit future use of the land and will require institutional controls to remain in place while the radioactivity decays.
The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) is currently accepting comments on a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) exploring long-term disposal options for Greater-Than-Class C Low-Level (GTCC) Waste. Hanford is one of the sites under consideration.
The GTCC Waste category does not include the highly radioactive material resulting from processing spent nuclear fuel. GTCC Waste is the byproduct of medical and commercial activities and decommissioning nuclear reactors. It contains radionuclide concentrations that exceed Nuclear Regulatory Commission limits for Classes A, B and C. As such, it is the most radioactive of all Low-Level Waste.
USDOE held a public hearing in Pasco on May 17, 2011. At this meeting, Ecology testified with the State of Oregon, opposing the use of Hanford to store the nation's GTCC Waste. Both states agree that bringing new sources of waste to Hanford is counterproductive to the cleanup mission.
More information:
The Department of Ecology is a cooperating agency on the United States Department of Energy’s (USDOE) Tank Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement (TC&WM EIS). We have this role because we hope to adopt the TC&WM EIS, or parts of it, in support of Hanford cleanup decisions. The State Environmental Policy Act requires an evaluation of the impacts on the environment and human health as part of our permitting process. If we can adopt this National Environmental Policy Act EIS, we will not need to duplicate that effort.
Hanford cleanup is a huge task, and the TC&WM EIS decisions move cleanup forward in several important ways. Cleanup decisions Ecology will make in permit documents, partly based on the analysis of this EIS, are:
The TC & WM EIS is a combination of three earlier efforts:
USDOE decided to combine these efforts into the TC & WM EIS in 2006. The scoping period was in early 2006.
As a cooperating agency, Ecology was able to review the document during its preparation. We engaged a contractor, who produced a report, to help with our reviews of the modeling on which USDOE built its alternatives.
The draft EIS was released for public comment in October 2009. The public comment period ran October 30, 2009, through May 3, 2010. USDOE held eight public meetings during the comment period. Ecology’s opinions about the EIS are in the Foreword to the draft TC&WM EIS, our comments on the draft TC&WM EIS, and the publications below.
Summary of Ecology's Comments on the draft TC&WM EIS: A presentation for the Tank Waste and River and Plateau Hanford Advisory Board committees on June 16, 2010
Richland - U.S. Department of Energy Reading Room, WSU Tri-Cities,
Consolidated Information Center, 2710 University Drive
Contact: Janice Parthree,
509-372-7443
Seattle - University of Washington, Suzzallo Library, Government Publications
Division, Box 352900
Contact: Cass Hartnett, 206-543-4363
Portland - Portland State University, Branford Price Millar Library, 1875 SW Park
Avenue
Contact: Liz Paulus, 503-725-4542
Spokane - Gonzaga University Foley Center, 502 E Boone Avenue
Contact: Linda Pierce, 509-313-3834
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
