HNSC Procurement Subcommittee Seeks DOE $$ Cuts

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

Cleaning up at Hanford may suffer big setback
A Congressman might cut the Energy Department's environmental budget
by $1 billion, which could delay cleanup and cost 3,100 jobs
By James Long of The Oregonian staff
******************************************************

A key congressional chairman is considering cutting the Department
of Energy's proposed environmental budget as much as $1 billion - a
move that would delay cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and
wipe out as many as 3,100 jobs.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House National Security

Committee's defense procurement subcommittee, wants to spend the
money on the military. His committee oversees everything from purchases
of combat boots to atomic bombs, and it controls money for environmental
restoration at former nuclear weapons sites such as Hanford. The southeast
Washington plutonium production site holds two-thirds of the nation's
military nuclear waste.

Energy Secretary Federico Pena told a group of lawmakers this week that
he would oppose the huge cuts that Hunter is contemplating. On Thursday,
Washington state officials warned that they would sue the federal gov't. to
force it to keep its agreement to clean up the mess at Hanford. "There would
be no recourse but to go to court to try to enforce the Tri-Party Agreement,"
said Sheryl Hutchison, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department
of Ecology.

The Department of Ecology, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the 
Energy Department signed a court order nine years ago in which
the energy officials agreed to a timetable for dealing with the massive
pollution at Hanford. The agreement came under strain last year when
the Energy Department failed to meet deadlines for removing radioactive
waste from leaky storage tanks sitting over an aquifer that feeds the

Columbia River. Washington Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General
Christine Gregoire warned Pena in February that the state was prepared
to sue if the department missed any more deadlines. Whether the state
could force Congress to appropriate more money is unclear, but
Hutchinson said a court might "impose fines that ultimately would
have the same effect."

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., whose district includes Hanford, sought
to downplay what others saw as an impending crisis. "We have a battle
like this every year on the authorization committee," Hastings told
The Oregonian. He predicted that Hunter would come to realize that
delaying cleanup at Hanford would lead to more expense in the long run.
But Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., who serves on Hunter's subcommittee
and the full committee, said he's convinced that Hunter is prepared
to take at least $500 million from Energy Department programs.

"I am very concerned about this," Smith said after the Pena meeting.
Lloyd Piper, the Energy Department's assistant manager at Hanford,
said Hunter's office asked what would happen at the site if the Energy
Department's $5.6 billion national cleanup budget was cut either $500
million or $1 billion. Even at the lower figure, Piper told The Oregonian,
Hanford's reduction would be $136 million - a 14 percent drop - and
it "would be an absolute disaster."

This year, said Piper, Hanford is $87 million short of having enough
money to meet cleanup milestones. Cutting another $136 million, he
said, would virtually halt all work except for top-priority efforts to
glassify storage-tank waste and remove nuclear reactor spent-fuel from
dangerous basins near the Columbia. The possibility of deep cuts is
being taken seriously at Hanford, Piper said, because "we've been
advised that (Hunter) is serious." Michael W. Grainey, who specializes
in Hanford issues for the Oregon Office of Energy, found the proposed
reductions "outrageous."

--
Aimee Houghton
Program Coordinator
The Center for Public Environmental Oversight (formerly CAREER/PRO)
425 Market Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
tel: (415) 904-7750; fax: (415) 904-7765
Email: aimeeh@cpeo.org

A Program of the San Francisco Urban Institute