Trouble at Hanford Nuclear Site (again)

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/apwire/articles/6420wa_hanford_releases.asp
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/apwire/articles/1110hanford_cleanup.asp
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/apwire/articles/6420wa_hanford_cleanup.asp

Monday, September 15, 2003
Group alleges Hanford workers harmed by tank releases
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Scores of Hanford nuclear reservation workers have been exposed to toxic vapors in the past year and a half as the government pushes for faster and cheaper cleanup of wastes, a watchdog group alleged Monday. The Government Accountability Project contends that 67 workers were exposed between January 2002 and August 2003 to toxic vapors escaping from tanks that hold radioactive wastes from the production of nuclear weapons."When the tanks off-gassed, or burped, the vapor plumes came out and nobody was wearing a mask," worker Lloyd Stone said in remarks distributed by the project.

The Seattle-based Government Accountability Project represents Hanford workers who contend their health was damaged at the former plutonium production site. The group alleges the federal government's push for faster and cheaper cleanup of the nuclear wastes is exposing workers at the 177 underground tanks to greater dangers.

The group noted that only 16 vapor releases requiring medical attention occurred between 1987 and 1992. That number skyrocketed to 45 exposure events involving 67 tank farm workers requiring medical attention between January 2002 and August 2003, GAP said.
There are more than 1,200 chemicals documented in the vapors in the underground tanks, GAP said. Many can cause health effects ranging from nose bleeds to headaches to respiratory problems.

Government Accountability Project spokesman Tom Carpenter(http://members.tripod.com/~goforth/two) said many of the chemicals are combining inside the tanks and then venting when pressure builds. The Energy Department doesn't know the makeup of all the gases being vented and doesn't use adequate monitoring equipment to detect those chemicals, he said. But the officials denied that a speedup of work would cause more exposures. Adequate equipment to sense the most hazardous vapors is available, Barr said.

Tom Young, a tank farm electrician, said he has been exposed to dangerous vapors on at least two occasions. "It's like being sprayed in the face with a can of Raid," he said. Young, who continues to work at Hanford, said complaints to his supervisors were largely ignored. Workers in the past have also complained about vapors that escape through venting pipes in the top of the tanks, but the problem seems to be getting worse in recent years as the Energy Department works faster on trying to empty and close down the tanks, Carpenter said. "The real cost of the accelerated cleanup by the Bush administration is being borne by workers at the site,"

Energy Department spokesman Robert Barr said adequate safety equipment was available to all tank farm workers. Any worker who requests a respirator or other safety equipment will receive it, they said. "Anybody in the tank farms has all the protection afforded to them that they need,"

How does this story mesh with this one?:

September 12, 2003

Department of Energy Fines CH2M Hill Hanford Group For Nuclear Safety Violations
Civil Penalty of $82,500 Issued
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that it has issued a proposed civil penalty of $82,500 to CH2M Hill Hanford Group tank farms contractor at the department’s Hanford site in Washington, for violations of nuclear safety requirements.The violations did not result in actual harm to workers or the environment.

There were three areas of violation – work processes, quality improvement, and information requirements – which took place in Hanford’s tank farms, where 177 large underground tanks hold about 54 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste left over from Hanford’s World War II and cold war missions. DOE investigators found that contractors at the tanks farms inadvertently shut off the leak detector in Hanford’s AN tank farm and then failed to accurately indicate their status, overfilled dilution tanks causing spills of water onto contaminated soil and did not report two of the spills, and failed to control the movement of vehicles and equipment onto and around the underground tanks.

Each of the three areas of the violation carries a proposed civil penalty of $27,500 – for a total proposed penalty of $82,500. In its letter of proposed violation and civil penalty, the Energy Department notes that recent corrective actions have been both aggressive and comprehensive and resulted in a mitigation of the maximum civil penalty.

The preliminary notice of violation will become final in 30 days unless the violations are denied with sufficient justification. The Price-Anderson Amendments Act directed the department to develop and enforce nuclear safety rules with its contractors. Additional information on this action and other aspects of the enforcement program will be available via the Internet at http://tis-nt.eh.doe.gov/enforce.

It appears that the DOE knows full well that the workers complaints are valid because it cited the tank operators for violations which almost certainly could have caused the environment for the illnesses described by the workers. Yet they claim that "the violations did not result in actual harm"

Immediate action should be taken to re-monitor the environment around the violations. More importantly, the workers who complained should be given further protection by Congress to insure that they aren't harrased and fired like the workers who complained in the past. This is an example of the enormous task ahead in cleaning up these toxic sites and protecting the workers and the environment from slip-shod efforts by the incestuous nuclear industry and the 'regulators' at DOE. It doesn't inspire confidence in any of their future nuclear ambitions.

A new plant for Hanford?!!

Aiken, SC, Feb. 7, 2003 -- The Energy & Environment Unit of Washington Group International, Inc. on Friday announced it has named Stephen F. Piccolo Manager of Operations for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), which is now under construction in southeastern Washington state.

Washington Group is principle subcontractor to Bechtel National Inc., which has a 10-year, $5 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to design, build and commission the world largest radioactive waste treatment plant. Washington Group's expertise is being utilized on the project in the areas of research and technology, process operations, startup and commissioning.
http://ua.pennwellnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=Archives&Subsection=Display&ARTICLE_ID=168044&KEYWORD=Washington%20Group%20International%20Energy%20%26%20Environment%20Unit%20names%20Stephen%20F%2E%20Piccolo%20to%20lead%20Washington%20team%20at%20Hanford%20

Hanford plan would accelerate tank work
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2002/1009/Story2.html

State says Hanford environmental impact statement is deficient
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2003news/2003-112.html

Senate bill gives Hanford $2 billion
http://www.hanfordnews.com/2003/0918.html

Company pitches big plans for new vast disposal site at Hanford
http://www.hanfordnews.com/2003/0914.html

Electrical safety violations at Hanford worry DOE
http://www.hanfordnews.com/2003/0830.html

Noxious fumes washed over Tom Young in waves. Sitting on an overturned bucket, he tried to keep working on the electrical box he was wiring.http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/134785_vapors13.html

If you're concerned
Call or write Ron Wyden.(D - OR) I believe he's the point man in Congress for the Hanson site.
516 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: wyden.senate.gov/contact.html


Communicating with Your Elected Officials:
http://www.fvap.gov/communicating.html

[bahrbearian]

1. Isn't Bectel cleaning up there too???

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2. That's right

Washington Group is principle subcontractor to Bechtel National Inc., which has a 10-year, $5 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to design, build and commission the world largest radioactive waste treatment plant.

And there's more. I have to dig.

The company that owns the tank farm, CH2M Hill Hanford Group, is a subsidiary of Lockheed-Martin. It used to be called Lockheed-Martin Hanford before they sold to CH2M Hill in 1999 as part of a de-monopolizing move to put more focus on clean-up..

[bahrbearian]

3. My wife and Familiy are down winders....

Her Brother died at 42 with cancer, her mother died at 53 with cancer.

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4. I'm sorry that they had to suffer. I know you worry for your wife.

I also worry.

Down winders. I ran across this site.
http://www.downwinders.org/

Here's their tag:
WELCOME AMERICA, WE'RE ALL DOWNWINDERS NOW!

DOWNWINDERS and LABWATCH have joined to issue the highest alert: Atomic Midnight. The likelyhood that nuclear weapons will be used by the U. S. on innocent civilians in the form of a test, an accident, or a military use, has risen to a near certainty. The arms race is out of control. This is not an alarm. Do not be alarmed. When the government is out of control “We the people...” must peacably take control.