Hanford Natural Resource Trustee Council
Background

The Hanford Nuclear Site is located in south central Washington near the cities of Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco. The 586 square mile site is managed by the Department of Energy and was used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons from 1943 until 1988. The production facilities are now closed and work is underway to clean up the waste and contamination that is a legacy of these nuclear operations.

The Hanford Natural Resource Trustee Council consists of trust organization and governments with authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) to seek damages for injury to natural resources at Hanford. The Council is working with the Department of Energy and other agencies to accomplish a sound clean up effort. The main concern of the HNRTC is to protect and restore the natural resources of the Hanford Site.

The Hanford Reach, which runs through the Site, is the last free flowing stretch of the Columbia River. The Reach supports 44 species of fish and is one of the last remaining spawning areas of fall chinook salmon on the main stem of the Columbia. Unique habitats such as sand dune complexes, bluffs, and river islands are found along the Hanford Reach and the surrounding upland areas, which support a diverse assemblage of plant and animal species.
 
Since the Hanford Site was designated as a national security area, and the Hanford Reach as a National Monument, the general public has not had access to the site. This has resulted in the preservation of 362,000 acres of prime shrub-steppe habitat, the largest such area remaining in the State of Washington. Many species of plants and animals rely on this habitat for their survival, including plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and insects. Over fifty of these plants and animals have been designated as threatened, endangered or candidate species by the state and/or federal governments. Biological surveys conducted in the 1990s by The Nature Conservancy documented the existence of 23 new species previously unknown to science. These include three new species of plants, at least six new species of bees and wasps, and 14 new species of flies.  The Hanford Site is a vital link in preserving and sustaining the biodiversity of this region. The Hanford Site is also a critical research natural area to better understand the ecology of the Great Plains of the Columbia Basin much of which has been lost by development.
 
The HNRTC will continue to work with other government agencies to assess the impacts of Hanford's nuclear legacy on its natural resources, and to protect and restore those resources for future generations.