The Future of the Columbia River Depends On Us The Tri-Party Agreement, an historic agreement between the State of Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), was signed in 1989. This was the first time that USDOE agreed to clean up the Hanford Site in compliance with all state and federal laws. It meant that USDOE could no longer dispose of radioactive and chemical waste into the ground, groundwater, or the river, and that USDOE was going to clean up Hanford so that it will be protective of human health and the health of the environment. Although this was a major success for the people of the Northwest, even in the early years of cleanup, some agency staff shared their views that the TPA was worth-less unless there was increased oversight and enforcement. One distressing fact to CRK is that EPA still has only seven local staff to oversee the largest envi-ronmental cleanup in the nation. To compound the difficulty in achieving a cleanup that is protective of all life forms for all future generations, USDOE continues to try to limit the amount of cleanup dollars being spent at Hanford. A whole new initiative has been introduced for a faster, cheaper cleanup. Unfortunately, there has been little emphasis over the years on developing the technologies required for this massive cleanup. So moving faster now will result in cleanup activities that are not protective to the degree required by law. Two specific concerns arise for Columbia Riverkeeper: past waste practices have resulted in 180 square miles of groundwater contamination that USDOE has no detailed plans or specific milestones to clean up to its highest beneficial use by 2012 for the River Corridor, or by 2028 for the Central Plateau and there is a new proposal to bring in 70,000 truckloads of new nuclear and mixed waste to Hanford. If the groundwater is not cleaned up, additional contamination will reach the river. It is inevitable. Since 1989, USDOE has known that groundwater needed to be cleaned up, but has not spent the time and resources to develop the necessary technologies to deal with these massive contamination problems. CRK believes that importing new waste of any kind to the site will only compound the waste treatment and disposal problems, not accelerate the cleanup. Hanford is already the most contaminated site in North America. Columbia Riverkeeper believes there is a crucial and urgent need for an independent, comprehensive site-wide risk assessment that will identify the long-term potential impacts from these Cold War legacy wastes. Too many studies and risk assessment models have been completed that do not look comprehensively at all of the potential risks. They do not take into account how one area may affect another or what combined effects might be. CRK believes USDOE has a direct conflict of interest in completing these studies because they created the pollution and they have a significant role in funding the cleanup. They are trying to get out of cleanup as fast as possible, i.e. accelerated cleanup, so it is not in their best interest to discover that the risk is greater than what they have assumed. They will then be required to fund more cleanup. Because of this, CRK believes it is time to fund an independent comprehensive site-wide risk assessment in order to determine if the current cleanup will be protective of the ecosystem and human life for as long as the waste remains hazardous. CRK has seen dramatic changes at Hanford since 1989. Major cleanup has been achieved. The Hanford Advisory Board is the largest and longest lasting citizen advisory board in the nation. But the decisions made over the next few years will decide whether this cleanup stays on track and is successful in protecting the citizens of the Northwest and the ecosystem of the Columbia River. CRK knows that if we are to achieve the goal of having a truly protective Hanford cleanup, the public and Northwest Native American tribes must be the ones to guide the cleanup activities. Public education and involvement is the key to achieving the best possible cleanup of the Hanford Site and future protection of the Columbia River. We must not allow those who think of short-term savings instead of the impact on future generations to decide what is best for this cleanup. To do it right the first time, this effort will require all of us working together for a long time to come. It's Time For You To Decide How Clean is Clean! www.columbiariverkeeper.org The Central Plateau (200 Area) is where the Department of Energy dumped over 444 billion gallons of radioactive and chemical waste into the ground and where over one million gallons of high level waste have leaked out of huge outdated waste storage tanks. This is the area that is responsible for Hanford being "the most contaminated place in North America." The Department of Energy has no plans to clean up the groundwater under the 200 Area.  For some reason they think they have the right to take this resource from all future generations and say you can't use it. Furthermore, they have no plans to stabilize or contain the waste in the soil to prevent it from further contaminating the groundwater.  The Department of Energy seems to be saying to future generations, "You can't use the water, you can't use the land, and if you do, you must severely limit your use to avoid too much exposure from radiation or toxic chemicals."   After 15 years of working on Hanford cleanup, we are at a critical point in time. Either we get cleanup back on track or Hanford will be left a very contaminated place, threatening the future of the Columbia River and all life dependent upon it. The newly released Record of Decision (ROD) on solid waste makes clear the direction the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) wants to go. It wants Hanford to be a nuclear waste dump and walk away from clean up of the contaminated groundwater. That means 180 square miles of groundwater aquifer will not be usable for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The Columbia River Hanford Reach will not be useable for anything but very short-term recreation that limits exposure time. If you planned on using the shoreline, forget it. But what about the fish and wildlife? All the recent decisions being made are focused on "land use" for humans. What right does the administration have to tell us that the fish and wildlife don't count? That it is OK if they get a dose of radiation every day of their lives. That the toxic chemicals left in the soil are OK for them. The current USDOE plans don't agree with state and federal laws that protect the environment. But then, you can always go to Congress and change the laws, including obtaining the ability to reclassify waste from high level to low level, which USDOE recently did, after losing a court battle over reclassification in Idaho. The Department of Energy is failing to live up to the commitment it made in 1989 to the State of Washington and the EPA in the Tri-Party Agreement that it will abide by all state and federal environmental laws. Instead it is trying to change the laws-anything to get around cleanup so it can dump even more waste in the ground. This is the current state of Hanford cleanup. You might be asking what the EPA and Ecology are doing. They are not willing to force cleanup compliance to the letter and intent of the laws, like requiring the 300 Area be cleaned up to "unrestricted use" or requiring groundwater to be cleaned up. The new decision to make Hanford a nuclear waste dump makes it all worse. USDOE has stated they would use sound science to make decisions but to state in the new ROD that there will be no significant environmental impact from this major decision to import new waste is not sound science. This is based on political science and expediency to clean up and close other sites by dumping it at Hanford. It's Up to All of Us to Put Hanford Cleanup Back On Track! This is what YOU CAN DO! A vocal public always makes a difference. Write a letter (hand written is best), or send an e-mail or fax to the following addresses and cc it to your congressional representatives and Columbia Riverkeeper so we can track the response. Points to Cover In Letter: Demand that the River Corridor be cleaned up to "unrestricted use" including both the 100 and 300 Areas. That all of the groundwater at Hanford be cleaned up in the near future before the site is released as being ?clean. That No More Offsite Waste be dumped at Hanford until the current cleanup is completed. That an independent, comprehensive Hanford risk assessment be performed before any waste is accepted from offsite for burial at Hanford. (It is very clear that if a truly valid comprehensive assessment were to be performed that you could never add any more waste to the already most contaminated site in the country.) That all the deep soil contamination be removed or stabilized so that no further groundwater impacts occur. That wildlife be protected to a level that no genetic damage occurs. That USDOE abide by the intent and letter of all existing environmental laws and that EPA and Ecology force USDOE into compliance.   GET ACTIVE TODAY SO WE DON'T BECOME CONTAMINATED TOMORROW! Jay Manning Director WA. State Dept, of Ecology P.O. Box 47600 Olympia, WA 98504-7600 Off: (360) 407-7001 Fax: (360) 407-6989 jaym461@ecy.wa.gov Christine Gregoire Legislative Bldg. Olympia, WA 98504-7600 Fax: 360-753-4110 www.governor.wa.gov Nick Ceto Mgr. EPA -Hanford 712 Swift # 5 Richland, WA  99352 Fax:  509-376-2396 Ceto.Nicholas@epa.gov? Rob McKenna WA State Attorney General Hwy/Licenses Bldg. Olympia, WA 98504-0100 Fax: 360-586-7671 davidm4@atg.wa.gov Keith Klein Hanford Manager P.O. Box 550 Richland, WA  99352 Fax: 509-376-4789 keith_klein@rl.gov Gregory deBruler Columbia Riverkeeper P.O. Box 912 Bingen, WA 98605 Ph/Fax: 509-493-2808 crkwa@gorge.net ^Top Cascadia Times Hanford Stories Predicted flow of radiation to the Columbia River! HANFORD LONG-TERM STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM Public Comment extended beyond official end date of December 9, 2002 USDOE informed Hanford Advisory Board members at the Stewardship workshop in November that it will continue to accept comments into next year, as "This is a living document." So please take the time to comment. Draft document is available at: www.hanford.gov/geninfo.html or hard copy contact USDOE at 509-376-7501. Some people believe that long-term stewardship begins when cleanup is completed. In other words, you have done all you can to protect the environment through remedial actions and it is time to move into a state where long-term monitoring, and land use restrictions will be the protective mechanism to limit exposure. If the Record of Decisions are implemented as written, this could be 150 to 300 years for groundwater areas. For full unrestricted use of the land, it could be thousands of years. In essence, USDOE or its predecessors will be responsible for monitoring for as long as the waste poses a threat to human health and the environment (ecosystem). This is a very long time. This is not a commitment CRK believes USDOE is willing to make. CRK believes that it is good to start dialogue on this because the way we do cleanup today could save us hundred of millions of dollars in the long run. SEND Your Comments to: James Daily USDOE-Richland Operations P.O. Box 550 (A2-16) Richland, WA 99352 Or e-mail to: longterm_stewardship@rl.gov Sites for more information: ^Top

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