Updates from the Legal Team on Hanford

As someone who cares about Hanford cleanup, I wanted to share the latest developments—and ask for your help spreading the word about the dire need for cleanup at the most toxic place in America.

Updates from the Legal Team on Hanford

As someone who cares about Hanford cleanup, I wanted to share the latest developments—and ask for your help spreading the word about the dire need for cleanup at the most toxic place in America.

Hands for hanford cleanup
​Hands Up for Hanford Clean Up!" Over 150 people gathered along the Columbia’s scenic Hanford Reach for The Hanford Journey, a day-long event to celebrate the late Dr. Russell Jim and demand a thorough cleanup of the Nuclear Site.
How can you help? 
  • Take Action: The U.S. Department of Energy (Energy), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Washington Department of Ecology are negotiating new cleanup requirements and deadlines. Act Now
     
  • Spread the Word: Share Riverkeeper’s petition with five friends or post the petition on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
Updates from the legal team:
  • The U.S. Department of Energy (Energy) report revealed that a massive building at Hanford is worse off than the government thought. Some structures at Hanford’s PUREX Complex are degrading, and need immediate cleanup to avoid the imminent spread of dangerous radioactive and toxic pollution, according to a new federal report. The report calls for an immediate removal action targeting the so-called PUREX Complex, which processed roughly half of the plutonium in the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. Cleanup at PUREX highlights a growing cleanup challenge: aging infrastructure is failing, but it still contains long-lived radioactive and toxic pollution. Stay tuned for Riverkeeper and Hanford Challenge’s public comments on the report.
     
  • The Trump administration plows ahead with plans to “relabel” toxic and radioactive waste to cut cleanup costs. Energy issued new rules giving itself the authority to abandon storage tanks with more than 100 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste at sites including Hanford. Under the law, the toxic waste must be disposed of in deep, geologic formations so it won’t endanger public health; the Trump administration is trying to avoid that important requirement. Riverkeeper’s Legal and Program Director was featured in a hard-hitting story about the administration’s cost-cutting maneuvers. Stay tuned for more developments.
     
  • Washington state orders new cleanup deadlines. Washington state unilaterally set new legally binding requirements and deadlines for Hanford cleanup, including requiring Energy to design new waste storage tanks. And Energy is pushing back. Check out recent news coverage.
Get inspired: Watch this moving footage of the Hanford Reach

Cleanup matters

Hanford is the most contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere