Washington state braces for legal battle over Trump Administration’s possible delay of Hanford cleanup

Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson fired a shot across the bow at the U.S. Energy Department Friday, threatening legal action if plans to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation are put on hold, or cancelled completely.

The governor attended a press event in the Tri-Cities Friday, joining state political leaders, tribal officials and labor representatives.

“If the Department of Energy moves away from starting up the waste treatment plant, it would be a stunning waste of resources, a violation of multiple legal agreements, and in some ways most importantly, a slap in the face of workers that have spent decades at that location,” Ferguson said.

For years, the U.S. has produced plutonium at Hanford for nuclear weapons, which has left behind potentially-dangerous radioactive contamination.

Cleanup efforts involve a process known as “vitrification,” or turning the waste into a more stable glass form.

Federal officials were scheduled to start that procedure next month.

However, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D) WA has reported that federal officials now say they may delay or even alter those plans.

In 1989, the U.S. Department of Energy signed what is known as the “Tri-Party Agreement,” along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The agreement is supposed to ensure the cleanup of radioactive and hazardous waste at Hanford is done in compliance with federal and state laws.

Even though the Department of Energy announced on Thursday that the work will continue, Gov. Ferguson expressed doubts about whether the Trump Administration is serious about the commitment.

“We have a consent decree.  It’s been in place for a long time and that obligates them to move forward,” Ferguson said.  “This is a carefully-constructed, seriously-negotiated agreement.”

He said if the federal government delays the cleanup work, Washington state will take legal action.

“There is zero chance we are backing down on this.  I want to be crystal clear to everybody about this.  There is zero chance that we are going to lose.  This going to go forward.  That is going to happen, whatever that takes,” Ferguson said.

The U.S. government is obligated, under a federal court order, to treat 56 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in Hanford’s underground tanks.

U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill.

The Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, which has taken decades to develop for dealing with millions of gallons of radioactive waste, has cost the government an estimated $30 billion.

Ferguson and other community leaders say they’re concerned about any potential changes to the federal cleanup timeline.

Gov. Ferguson said his battles to enforce cleanup at Hanford date back to the days he served as an assistant attorney general in Washington state, when he worked on legal action against the Obama Administration.

“It’s not about who occupies the White House,” said Gov. Ferguson.  “What it is, is about the federal government, each and every time we’ve had to go to court, upholding its obligations and its responsibilities and its promises to the people of this community, to the people of this state, and to the workers.”

State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh has criticized Ferguson and Murray, saying their concerns are exaggerated.  He has characterized rhetoric from state Democratic officials over potential delays as “fear-mongering.”