- The Hanford Site consists of 586 square miles, which is about the same size as half of the state of Rhode Island
- There are 205 species of birds and almost 1000 species of insects found on the Hanford Site
- Thirty different kinds of grass is found on the Hanford Site
- A herd of wild horses used to live on the Hanford Site
- Mule deer, elk, coyotes, badgers, rabbits, skunks, golden and bald eagles, herons, ducks, ground squirrels, several species of mice, lizards, and three species of snakes can all be found at Hanford
- Rattlesnake Mountain is 3600 feet high, which is the same height as when you get to the top of Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90 in the Cascade Mountains
- Rattlesnake Mountain is also the highest mountain in the United States without any trees on it
- On top of Rattlesnake Mountain, scientists once recorded a 150 miles per hour gust of wind
- The last part of the Columbia River that doesn’t have a dam on it (called the last free flowing stretch of the Columbia River) is at Hanford. It’s a 51-mile stretch of water with sturgeon, steelhead, trout, and many other kinds of fish living there
- In 2000, President Clinton created the Hanford Reach National Monument to protect the wildlife and environment associated with that 51-mile stretch of river
- Two little towns called Hanford and White Bluffs used to be found on the land that’s now part of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. All of the townspeople had to leave their homes when the work started at Hanford
- There are only two buildings that are still standing from the old Hanford and White Bluffs towns. Hanford High School is the last building in old Hanford, although its roof is collapsing and its floor is caving in. At White Bluffs, the last building still standing is the old White Bluffs Bank. All of the other buildings at Hanford and White Bluffs have been demolished, but many of the streets and sidewalks remain
- The White Bluffs Bank got robbed once. The robber then buried the money he’d stolen somewhere between White Bluffs and Moses Lake. Nobody has ever found the money, probably because the robber was shot and killed in Moses Lake before he could recover his loot or tell people where he buried it
- When Hanford’s buildings were being constructed in the 1940’s, the workers could eat all they wanted for only 67-cents per meal
- There were so many people building Hanford that eight cafeterias were built too. At every meal, more than 50 tons of food was served
- If the 51,000 construction workers who built Hanford in the 1940’s were to have formed a real town back then, Hanford would have been the fourth largest city in Washington
- There are almost ten individual buildings at Hanford which are longer than a whole football field
- Hanford’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, nicknamed “ERDF”, has taken in more than 11 million tons of dirt and debris generated by the cleanup work at the Site
- There used to be places on the mountains surrounding Hanford where missiles and anti-aircraft guns were manned by soldiers, in case anyone ever tried to attack Hanford
- Because Indians lived on the land where Hanford is currently located, there are thousands of places where people find artifacts like arrowheads which were used by Indians hundreds of years ago. Even if workers find these items while they are on duty, they’re not allowed to keep them
- The shape of the Hanford Reservation has often been compared to what a pork chop looks like
- When workers began to construct Hanford’s facilities, the project was kept so secret, that only about 500 of the 51,000 construction workers knew what they were building
- Many of the buildings at Hanford were the first of their kind ever built in the world
- Hanford has its own Fire Department and its own Police Department (the Hanford Patrol)
- The Waste Treatment Plant that is being built at Hanford to turn liquid wastes into glass for safe disposal is the largest environmental construction project in the world. It will take until 2018 for the construction to be finished
- Hanford is like a little city of its own. Inside the security fences, Hanford has 370 miles of roads, 185 miles of electrical power lines, and 66 miles of water pipes
- Hanford is home to the second, four-lane road that was ever built in Washington. The first one was built to connect Seattle and Tacoma
