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Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 10, 2000
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke announces major Hanford waste tank agreement

SEATTLE — Gov. Gary Locke today announced a major agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy that would put additional waste cleanup efforts at the Hanford site near Richland under the oversight of a federal judge to ensure the work is done on schedule.

Locke and U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson agreed to seek a consent decree from the federal court to oversee the cleanup of nuclear wastes contained in 177 underground tanks, about one-third of which are leaking. The agreement probably will be added to an existing consent decree reached in 1998 that set a schedule for removing liquid waste from single-shell tanks and moving it into safer double-shell tanks.

"This agreement ensures the work will continue - on schedule - no matter who serves as governor of Washington or president of the United States," Locke said. "This a major change in the way the cleanup business is conducted at Hanford."

The consent decree would address the key issues of retrieving liquid and solid wastes from all of the single-shell and double-shell tanks and turning them into a glass-like substance through a process known as vitrification.

Locke noted that Richardson just canceled a contract with a British firm called British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) Inc. to build the vitrification plant because estimated costs had risen from $6.9 billion to more than $15 billion.

"With the BNFL contract termination, some deadlines will be missed, and that adds to the ongoing concerns we've had about Energy's commitment to this project," Locke confirmed.

"But Secretary Richardson assures us that the vitrification plant will be up and running in 2007, and that must be our focus," he added.

Locke said Richardson also agreed to ensure shipments of low-level and mixed low-level wastes from new sources will not be shipped to Hanford at least until the Department of Energy selects a new contractor to build the vitrification plant in January 2001.

"I appreciate Secretary Richardson's agreement to seek the consent decree and to ensure new waste shipments are delayed. But I also told him - leaving no room for ambiguity - that Washington reserves the right to challenge any movement of new wastes into Washington."

Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire met with Richardson today at the High Technology Learning Center at North Seattle Community College.

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