Cleaning Up Hanford

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KBOO
Description: a close-up photo of a colorless translucent sphere resting on cement; in the glass marble is an upside-down reflection of a tree and other indistinct shapes.

 

The most contaminated place in the western hemisphere is right here in our backyard, the Hanford Site in Eastern Washington, the global birthplace of both nuclear energy and nuclear bombs. During WWII, the area was confiscated from Native Tribes without their consent and without recompense. Long after the production of plutonium was decommissioned at the site, the soil and groundwater are still heavily contaminated with radioactive and toxic waste that threatens to leak into the Columbia River. But the clean-up process has been marred by massive cost overruns and unconscionable delays, as for profit enterprises continue to reap profits on the work that never quite gets done. Today it looks like the clean-up project is going to once again be delayed and the adequacy of the clean-up compromised. Patricia Kullberg speaks with Esteban Ortiz, a program coordinator with Columbia RiverKeeper to talk about what’s at stake with the new “holistic” agreement, which was crafted behind closed doors, in a process that once again excluded Native Tribes. 

Heart of American Northwest and Hanford Challenge also provide information on the Hanford Cleanup, on the Holistic Settlement, and on  commenting on the Holistic Settlement.  The comment period closes September 1, 2024.

 

Image: Atomic Marble 2 by Glenna Cole Allee, used with permission.  Description: a close-up photo of a colorless translucent sphere resting on cement; in the glass marble is an upside-down reflection of a tree and other indistinct shapes.  Atomic Marbles were part of early research in vitrification, a process used as an attempt to store and dispose of radioactive waste, although questions remain about its safety.  Atomic Marbles were distributed as souvenirs (see the oral history quoted in Allee's Hanford Reach: In the Atomic Field)

 

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