Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

18 July 2003

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee obtained a public commitment today from House Energy and Water Appropriations Chairman David Hobson (R-OH) that he would work with Inslee to speed up the use of lined trenches for disposal of low-level nuclear waste at Hanford. Inslee has introduced legislation that would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to bury low-level radioactive waste in safely lined facilities, rather than bury it in un-lined, open soil landfills, which is currently the practice at Hanford and other nuclear repositories across the nation. The “Safe Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Act,” H.R. 2508, would require the use of safely lined facilities by the end of 2003.

Explaining why it was necessary for Congress to urge the Department of Energy to speed up the timeline for using lined trenches at Hanford, Inslee said, “Mr. Speaker, we bring this amendment to the House’s attention to really deal with a weakness in our existing laws relating to the disposal of low-level nuclear waste. In the State of Washington, the Department of Energy (DOE) has plans to ship into the Hanford site tons and tons of what is characterized as low-level nuclear waste for disposal in unlined trenches. Unfortunately, because of existing law, [the Department of Energy] may at the moment under RCRA (Resources Conservation and Recovery Act) statutes be allowed to do that, but this is clearly something we need to resolve because current RCRA law would not allow us to dispose of Drano and paint cans but allow us to dispose of low-level nuclear waste in unlined trenches.”

Chairman Hobson replied, “I understand the concerns of the gentleman from Washington, and I agree that we should not be placing low-level radioactive waste into unlined trenches, and it shouldn’t take the Department of Energy several years to figure that out. I will work with the gentleman and with the Assistant Secretary Jessie Roberson at DOE to resolve this expeditiously. And if we can’t get satisfaction from DOE, we will address this in conference [committee], and our conference is a little while off, but I do not disagree with you.”

Inslee brought up the low-level waste disposal issue with Chairman Hobson during an opportunity to amend the Energy and Water Appropriation bill today on the floor of the House of Representatives. Hobson’s commitment is significant because the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee funds many activities at Hanford, and his support for Congressional action to speed the use of line facilities for low-level nuclear waste brings Washington closer to a safer Hanford. Inslee will be meeting with Chairman Hobson and DOE officials to discuss means of resolving this issue.