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Hanford Nuclear Cleanup

Murray's Work

Over the years, Senator Murray has worked to ensure the federal government meets Office of River Protection staff thanking Sen. Murray for her efforts to ensure the federal government meets its obligation to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Facilityits obligation to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Facility.

Murray is a member of the two key Senate committees involved in funding Hanford -- the Budget Committee and the Energy and Water Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

In 2001, Senator Murray helped to create the Senate Nuclear Cleanup Caucus - a bipartisan group of Senators working to increase funding for nuclear waste cleanup. She serves as Co-Chair of the Caucus.

Hanford Budget

Budget for Fiscal Year 2006

Currently, the Senate is working on funding for Fiscal Year 2006 (which begins on October 1, 2005). In his budget for FY06, President Bush proposed cutting nearly $550 million from Department of Energy environmental management programs nationwide, 54% of which are cuts to Hanford. This would mean nearly $300 million in cuts to cleanup efforts at the site, including $148 million from the Office of River Protection and $149 million from the Richland Operations Office. The budget would also slash nearly $90 million from cleanup of Hanford’s underground storage tanks, which currently amass roughly 50 million gallons of the most radioactive, high-level nuclear waste.

Since the budget’s release, Senator Murray has fought with many of her colleagues to oppose these drastic cuts. In February she joined Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in sending a letter to President Bush expressing their outrage over the cuts to Hanford cleanup activities. At an appropriations hearing in March, Senator Murray questioned Deputy Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Paul Golan about the implications of the budget for the future of the site’s cleanup. One month later, she posed similar questions to Budget Director Joshua Bolten. Unfortunately, neither official provided any real answers as to the impact the proposed cuts would have on the cleanup schedule.

In June, Senator Murray successfully restored $32 million for the Tank Farm program, which was slated for $89 million in cuts. Hanford’s 177 underground tanks store over 50 million gallons of radioactive waste that remain from the site’s plutonium production activities during the Cold War. These areas house some of the most dangerous and environmentally harmful material at Hanford, making continued cleanup particularly critical. Senator Murray continues to advocate against additional cuts for Hanford cleanup in both the final versions of the Energy and Water bill and the FY06 Budget.

RECAP: FY 2005 Summary

For Fiscal Year 2005, President Bush proposed nearly $7.4 billion for the entire Environmental Management Program for cleanup at all Department of Defense and Department of Energy federal nuclear sites. Of the proposed amount, Senator Murray helped secure a total of nearly $2 billion for Hanford.

RECAP: FY 2004 Summary

In the Energy and Water Subcommittee, Murray secured over $2 billion for environmental cleanup at Hanford. The funds, which support a waste treatment plant and cleanup efforts along the Columbia River, meet the required federal share specified under the Tri-Party Agreement and accelerated cleanup program. The total funding represents $962.8 million for Richland Operations and $1.079 billion for the Office of River Protection (ORP). This funding represents the total federal amount needed to move forward with the Waste Treatment Plant.

2004 is the first year the Administration has not tried to cut Hanford funding, which is a result of the Senate and House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus's work over the years. President Bush proposed $7.2 billion for the entire Environmental Management Program for cleanup at all Department of Defense/Department of Energy federal nuclear sites.

RECAP: FY 2003 Summary

In Fiscal Year 2003, President Bush proposed cutting Hanford funding by $300 million. That would have failed to meet the Tri-Party Agreement requirements (see Living Up to an Agreement). In addition, the President proposed taking $800 million out of the $6.7 million Environmental Management Budget to create an "expedited cleanup fund." Senator Murray, and others in Congress, were concerned that the Administration would require sites like Hanford to weaken the cleanup standards (or to reduce the amount of waste treated) in order to get this "expedited" funding. With Senator Murray's help, the Senate rejected the President's special account. In addition, with Senator Murray's help, the Senate added $433 million to the President's budget for Hanford. Even with the Senate shifting to Republican Control in January 2003, Murray was still able to maintain her funding increase for Hanford.

RECAP: FY 2002 Summary

In Fiscal Year 2002, President Bush's budget proposed cutting Hanford funding by $57 million. Senator Murray worked to increase Hanford's Budget $415 million above the President's request. Murray's budget increase was signed into law.