By Carter Moore, Riverkeeper Summer Law Clerk—
Although I moved to the Pacific Northwest to study environmental law, I wasn’t familiar with the Hanford Nuclear reservation until joining Columbia Riverkeeper for its Hanford Reach paddle trip last summer. During that trip I was impressed by the natural beauty of the last free flowing stretch of the Columbia River and I came away inspired to use my skills to help guide the cleanup efforts. This summer I am excited to return the Hanford reach as Columbia Riverkeeper’s law clerk and share my enthusiasm with others.
On the night before we hit the river last summer, the group of about fifteen gathered to eat grilled fajitas and discuss our interest in the Hanford Reservation and some of the recent developments at the site. The paddlers came from all over the Pacific Northwest and from different backgrounds, people I never would have come across but for the paddle, but we all shared an excitement about Hanford and the River. After discussing our histories and Hanford’s history, we headed to our tents to enjoy the cool, scrub-land night.
The next morning, after safety instruction, we put the kayaks in the water and pushed off. I was struck by the contrast between the white cliffs crowded with swallows' nests and the cement capped reactors to our right. Every so often, Dan Serres, Riverkeeper’s Conservation Director, and Lauren Goldberg, Riverkeeper’s Clean Water Attorney, rounded up the group and pointed out the different reactors and described how the cleanup effort was addressing issues that each reactor posed. After a while we stopped on the opposite bank for lunch and a stretch. Dan told stories about radioactive deer and jam and we got a peek at some salmon in the river and a few workers high up on a reactor.
The paddle took only a few hours, but that brief time on the river ignited a deep interest in Hanford. Nearly a year later, as the summer law clerk for Riverkeeper, I found myself at Portland State University listening to the Department of Energy’s latest plan to stop the flow of Uranium from Hanford into the river and I thought about the fishermen and the wildlife and the river that I saw on the paddle trip, and I could see the problem from the river’s perspective.
Join us for a float down the Hanford Reach! Learn more and reserve your spot today
