Hanford's risks are large: Even after billions of dollars are spent cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, radioactive waste could threaten the Columbia River for thousands of years to come. A government analysis shows that hot spots of uranium, strontium 90 and other potential carcinogens could linger in Hanford's groundwater for nearly 10,000 years. The analysis is part of a 6,000-page document outlining the U.S. Department of Energy's options for dealing with leaky underground storage tanks. But that's a worst-case scenario, Department of Energy officials said Tuesday night. The goal is to ensure that groundwater leaving Hanford after the cleanup meets drinking water standards, they said. Officials faced a skeptical crowd at a public meeting in Spokane. "The impacts to the groundwater and the people who will use it are shockingly high," said Gerry Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a Seattle-based Hanford watchdog group that advocates stricter cleanup standards. "Our grandchildren will be exposed to this. People will drink that groundwater. It's a valuable resource and it's only going to get more valuable." Tuesday's meeting, one of eight in the region, detailed the federal government's plan to clean up 53 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford. The government is expected to finalize a cleanup plan by the end of 2011. The Department of Energy's preferred alternative is to remove 99 percent of the waste from the tanks. The waste would be taken to a vitrification plant on site and converted to glass-like logs for safer disposal. Treating the waste would cost up to $60 billion. The work would be finished by 2052. The Department of Energy also evaluated shipping low-level radioactive waste from other nuclear sites to Hanford in the same document. There's currently a moratorium on those shipments. The moratorium should be permanent, Spokane City Councilman Bob Apple testified during the public comment period. Apple said he's concerned that radioactive waste would come through Spokane by truck or rail. "We don't need any more waste at Hanford," he said. If the moratorium is ever lifted, the waste would be trucked to Hanford via Interstate 84, said Mary Beth Burandt, a Department of Energy manager. The Hanford reservation covers 586 square miles near Richland. During the Cold War, nine nuclear reactors operated at Hanford, producing plutonium for the U.S. weapons arsenal. The site's cleanup is governed by the 1989 Tri-Party Agreement, a pact signed by the Department of Energy, the Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Energy is decades behind schedule for pumping radioactive waste out of the leaking storage tanks, and years behind schedule for startup of the vitrification plant. In late 2008, the state of Washington sued the Department of Energy to enforce deadlines for Hanford's cleanup. Last August, the parties reached a proposed settlement, which includes a 2022 deadline for starting up the vitrification plant. Terms for shipping low-level waste to Hanford from other sites are also part of the proposed settlement. Public sentiment runs strongly against importing waste, said Jane Hedges, the Washington Department of Ecology's nuclear waste program manager. "People told us that we shouldn't allow any waste that didn't originate at Hanford to come to Hanford," she said in a phone interview. Under the proposed settlement, Hedges said the moratorium on shipping new waste to Hanford would continue until the Department of Energy started treating tank waste at the vitrification plant, or until the federal government could demonstrate that importing waste wouldn't pose more risks. Copyright (c) 2010, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA [ top ] ___________________________________________________________ Bob Apple Puts Spotlight On CPS Benjamin Shors Amid the blue herringbone chairs in the waiting room of the county’s juvenile court, it’s not uncommon to hear scathing critiques of the Washington’s child welfare system from disgruntled parents and their families. But this week, the criticism came from an unusual quarter: Spokane City Councilman Bob Apple. The outspoken, 51-year-old councilman waded waist-deep into a child welfare case involving a former employee and campaign volunteer, Daniel Morgan, 29. Throughout several days of hearings, Apple could be heard variously accusing a state social worker of submitting false court documents, stating that an assistant attorney general should be jailed, and repeatedly accusing Child Protective Services of kidnapping a 2-year-old boy. “It’s a sham,” Apple fumed in the waiting room, surrounded by the Morgans and their relatives. “If this is how the court system operates, then it’s broken.” A spokeswoman for CPS called Apple’s comments “absolutely ridiculous.” “None of these decisions are made in isolation,” spokeswoman Kathy Spears said. “There are checks and balances in this system. When we go to court, we have to make the case that a child we are removing is at risk of imminent harm.” Four years ago, Washington legislators opened the doors to the hearings where the fate of hundreds of allegedly abused or neglected Spokane County children are decided. The vast majority of the cases – on any given day, about 10,000 children are in Washington’s foster care – pass unnoticed. But the presence of Apple, an outspoken and blunt councilman, shined a light on the Morgans’ two-month legal battle – and into the little-understood machinations of the child-welfare system. At the center of the dispute are three boys and the familiar tale of a family torn apart by divorce and competing allegations of child abuse and neglect. The Morgans, who own a car-detailing business, allege that an overzealous CPS social worker relied heavily on the reports of Robin’s ex-husband, Derrick Allen. The 33-year-old is involved in a custody dispute with Robin, with whom he had two older sons. “We would submit that this is really nothing more than a custody battle,” said attorney Connie Powell, who defended Daniel Morgan against an allegation that he threw his 8-year-old stepson to the ground and kicked the boy in the buttocks. Late Thursday night, a court commissioner sided with Morgan and his wife, and ordered the state to return their 2-year-old son, who was taken by police April 18. Social worker Sheila Thorne, a 13-year veteran of the agency, declined to comment. “The department has made more than a reasonable effort to prevent the removal of (the boy) from the family’s home,” said Kim McClain with the state’s Attorney General’s office, which represents CPS in child-welfare cases. McClain said the two older boys in the home reported that Daniel Morgan had physically abused them. She described the family as “chaotic.” In April, three days after he made the report to police and social workers, Allen obtained a temporary change of custody to care for his and Robin Morgan’s two biological children. Allen could not be located for comment. “Unfortunately, in this field, when the custody of children is involved, everyone involved is willing to lie,” said Dave Wood, a lobbyist for Washington Families United, a nonprofit group seeking reforms to the child-welfare system. “You don’t know what the truth is. Something has to change.” The Morgans maintained the boy suffered injuries to his knee and head during accidents with a toy car and a bike, respectively. According to testimony, the boy told Allen that Daniel Morgan had caused the injuries. The Morgans said Allen has used the referrals “as payback” and to gain custody of the two children he had with Robin Morgan. “The injuries have nothing to do with Mr. Morgan,” Apple said. “I’ve known these kids for 15 years. I know Daniel would never beat his kids.” Since 2002, the state agency has received a “number of referrals related to parental neglect of the children and alleged physical abuse of the children by Mr. Morgan,” according to the court documents. A state spokeswoman said she could not disclose how many of the complaints were made by Allen. A state ombudsman who reviewed the case recommended that the children be removed from the home, according to court records. The agency said the parents have refused to engage in services, including anger management. “We make a decision to take a case to court, and the court has an opportunity to review the evidence,” said Spears, the CPS spokeswoman. “I think that is the strength of the child-welfare system: to have different parts looking at what we are doing so that no one agency is making decisions on their own.” On Friday, Robin Morgan said she had been unable to work for the past two months. Family members helped out at the couple’s car-detailing business. “I have been running back and forth between attorneys and visitations,” she said. “I just hope that everybody can see that CPS is good, but there are not good CPS workers out there. I’m really happy that my son is home.” For his part, Apple maintained his support wasn’t motivated by friendship alone. “I will do it for any citizen who contacts me,” he said. Staff writer Benjamin Shors can be reached at (509) 459-5484, [ top ] ___________________________________________________________ Supporters seek to become party to Hanford initiative challenge By Mary Hopkin, Herald staff writer
Supporters of the Hanford cleanup initiative passed by voters in November filed a motion Wednesday asking to become a party to the legal challenge. Initiative 297 prevents the Department of Energy from bringing more waste to Hanford until the waste already there is cleaned up. But the U.S. government has questioned the initiative's validity, claiming it's written ambiguously, covering not just radioactive waste, but also any radioactive materials, including isotopes used for research. The state is required to defend the initiative on behalf of the public. And attorney Michael Robinson-Dorn said his clients want to join in the state's case. "Our involvement would provide the court with the perspective of those who drafted the initiative," said the law professor at the University of Washington. Supporters include the Hanford watchdog group Heart of America Northwest; Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle; Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland; and Spokane City Councilman Bob Apple. This week, state and federal attorneys asked federal Judge Alan McDonald to put the initiative on hold until its constitutionality can be argued in April. McDonald has yet to rule on the issue. So for now, only shipments of most nuclear wastes to Hanford will be on hold. The rest of the initiative will not take effect until McDonald rules after the hearing or May 13, whichever is sooner. [ top ] |