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There are 177 tanks at Hanford storing more than 55 million gallons of high-level waste. Sixty-seven single shell tanks are known, or suspected, to have leaked. Past releases have amounted to about 1 million gallons.
Solid and liquid wastes in barrels were buried in trenches, pits, or unlined landfills. As the containers break down, contaminants enter the soil.
Also known as reverse wells, injection wells served as disposal areas for liquid contaminants by pumping them directly back into the soil.
Cooling and waste water was directed to storage ponds, trenches, cribs or French drains (perforated pipes allowed liquid to release into rock-lined, soil-covered trenches).
Some facilities at Hanford disposed of waste directly to the soil outside the facility, and accidental spills also occurred.
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