2006 State of the Site
Seattle

State of the Site Meeting Themes

Seattle – October 18, 2006

Waste Treatment Plant and Tank Waste Issues

• Concern there is greater contamination in the vadose zone around/under tank TY
• The adequacy of using the pump and treat remedy in the tank farms
• Eight year delay and cost overruns associated with the Waste Treatment Plant
• No firm schedule to empty the tanks
• Confusion over the Tank Waste Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement evaluation of options for what do with tank waste when the TPA states DOE must remove 99% of the waste
• Efforts made to reclassify Hanford tank waste
• Role Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board could play in overseeing the Waste Treatment Plant project.

Tri-Party Agreement

• Need for a new comprehensive agreement with enforceable schedules for all waste
• Need for enforceable groundwater milestones (including riparian zone) during cleanup not just at the end
• Need interim milestones to show how the River Corridor will be cleaned up by 2012
• Current Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) does not have enough teeth
• Need to make the TPA stick

Budget

• Concern over declining out year budgets.  EM budget will be cut by 25%.
• Adequacy of the current budget and the need for additional dollars
• Want assurances that DOE is requesting enough money
• Adequacy of funding vs. know how and technology to do the work
• Frustration over the time and resources needed to cleanup Hanford
• DOE-RL and DOE-ORP need to work harder to secure more funding for Hanford cleanup

Public Information/Public Involvement

• The value of public input to the agencies and if it is factored into cleanup decisions
• Concern that an alternative perspective was not part of the meeting
• Desire for circulating copies of Hanford documents undergoing public review be placed in public libraries 
• Explore ways to get out information on public meetings like this one
• Liked room layout and brief, succinct and clear opening statements
• Want a State of the Site meeting in Portland

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)

• Not want FFTF to play a role in that program.
• What resources DOE is applying to that program.
• Discouraged with the big push in nuclear energy

Other Issues

• The need for additional characterization work to be done in the 200 Area (Central Plateau) and vadose zone
• We all want this cleaned up.  How can we help?
• Worker retaliation and whistleblowers
• Need to protect workers from exposure to beryllium
• Columbia River is the reason for cleanup.
• Need to remove the source term and pump and treat the groundwater along the River now.