Over 444 billion gallons of radioactive and chemical waste have been discharged to the soil at the Hanford site.
Hundreds of billions of gallons of wastewater were discharged directly into the River.
Soil and groundwater contamination have resulted in massive underground plumes of deadly materials moving towards and in some cases already reaching the Columbia River .
The largest site plumes are the nitrate and tritium plumes. Other large plumes include uranium, strontium 90, and chromium. Maps of these individual plumes follow in this document.
Other contaminants of major concern include carbon tetrachloride, sodium dichromate, technitium-99, and ferro-cyanide.
Most of the groundwater below the 200 Area exceeds the drinking water standard at this time. The law requires that the groundwater be cleaned up to the highest beneficial use.
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 (200 Area).
