RICHLAND, WA - The U.S. Department of Energy is collecting comments over the next few weeks on its new timeline for cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. At meetings in Washington and Oregon federal officials will outline the new proposed schedule. It sets a timeline for cleaning up underground tanks of radioactive sludge and building a massive factory called the “vitrification” or “vit plant” to treat that waste. Carrie Meyer is a spokeswoman for DOE. She says the original cleanup and construction schedule drafted in 1989 wasn’t realistic.

Meyer: “We know more about the tanks now than we did in 1989 when the agreement was first signed. In ’89 we didn’t know how complex, difficult and challenging that work actually is.”

By pushing back the deadlines, state officials say they will gain more clout from federal courts if DOE doesn’t hold up its end of the deal. Hanford watchdog groups say the new cleanup schedule isn’t fast enough.

The federal government will hold meetings on the new proposed schedule in Portland, Seattle, Spokane, the Tri-Cities and Hood River. (Anna King)

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On the web: Hanford public comment meeting information

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