Overview
The Hanford reservation is one of the most heavily polluted sites in the Western hemisphere, and this pollution presents a growing threat to public health. Large amounts of toxic chemicals pollute Hanford’s land and groundwater, and over a million gallons of deadly liquid hazardous mixed waste have leaked from the old and decaying tanks currently storing as much as 53 million gallons of waste. In fact, more than one-third of the tanks are believed to have leaked.
Contaminated groundwater beneath the site covers an area larger than the city of Seattle, with estimates ranging between 80 and 200 square miles. Groundwater from the site feeds pollution into the Columbia River, which flows directly along the border of the Hanford Site for more than 50 miles past nine full-scale nuclear reactors and hundreds of liquid waste and burial sites.
This flow of hazardous toxins presents a serious risk to the health of people and wildlife below the site and the economy of the region. There are 42 cities and towns downriver from Hanford and businesses in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia create 750,000 jobs, with payrolls totaling $27.5 billion dollars. In Washington alone, farming below Hanford is worth $6.4 billion dollars.
In 2004, voters overwhelmingly passed Initiative 297, which also required cleanup and prohibited new shipments of waste. Unfortunately, the initiative was struck down by U.S. District Court Judge Alan McDonald, who ruled that Washington state has no authority to regulate radioactive waste. However, Judge McDonald also ruled that the state had the authority to regulate hazardous waste and that most of the material targeted by I-297 falls into this category. New legislation proposed by WashPIRG and the Protect Washington Coalition utilized this information, essentially reformulating the initiative and redefining the waste at the Hanford site to give the state regulatory authority. While legislation has stalled in the 2008 and 2009 state legislative sessions, WashPIRG continues seeking out opportunities to protect Washingtonians from the hazards Hanford poses.
