DOE Seeks to Work Off EPA Fine

By Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

May 11–The Department of Energy is considering projects ranging from restrooms for Hanford’s historic B Reactor to converting trucks to use biodiesel in lieu of paying a $1.14 million fine.

The Environmental Protection Agency fined DOE in late March for problems at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, a lined landfill for low-level radioactive waste. But it gave DOE the option of proposing an environmental project instead of paying at least a portion of the fine.

DOE’s Hanford Richland Operations Office and Washington Closure Hanford are interested in working off the fine to keep the money in the Mid-Columbia and provide some local benefit.

But they still are working to come up with a proposal that meets criteria to present for EPA’s consideration and approval. The proposal must cover work benefiting the environment that DOE is not legally required to perform, Al Hawkins, a DOE senior technical advisor, said at a Hanford Advisory Board committee meeting this week.

An early favorite was converting the trucks that haul waste to the landfill and within it to use biodiesel fuel. The trucks now use 20,000 gallons of fuel a month. Converting them to use a biodiesel blend would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the warranty on the trucks may not be honored if they are converted.

“We thought that had great promise,” he said. “We hate to give up on this one.”

Another project under consideration is adding restrooms to Hanford’s historic B Reactor, which supporters are working to save as a museum. Because saving the reactor would mean less waste sent to the landfill, it might qualify as an environmental project.

There also is interest, particularly among the tribes, in planting parts of the site with native plants where they have disappeared or been replaced by non-native species, Hawkins said.

Because problems occurred at a landfill, offering classes at the HAMMER training center for landfill operators and workers has been suggested. They could include classes appropriate for workers at municipal or county landfills in the region and classes for workers at landfills accepting radioactive waste.

Some of the proposed projects do not have as direct a link to the Hanford nuclear reservation.

One is to help preserve the Amon Basin wetlands in south Richland. Sixty acres have been purchased for a wildlands park. But that’s just a portion of the basin that supporters would like to save from development for a wildlife corridor and activities such as hiking and teaching school children about the Mid-Columbia environment.

Better response to spills of fuel and other substances in the Columbia River also might be considered. Small communities in particular are not equipped to deal with spills. Ideas include purchasing spill kits or even a boat, Hawkins said.

DOE is unlikely to receive credit for the full amount of the fine. Typically, agencies or governments that choose to perform supplemental projects still are required to pay around 25 percent of the fine. In addition, the project may cost more than would be credited toward the fine.

DOE plans to pass on costs to Washington Closure, which says it plans to pass on costs to subcontractors at the landfill. Problems at the landfill covered by the fine included falsified data, compaction testing that was not done correctly and a water collection system for the landfill’s liner that stopped working and was not discovered for months, according to EPA.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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