Washington sues feds over safety of nuclear waste tanks
Source: Associated Press
Washington state is suing the federal government again over cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation — this time over the danger posed to workers by vapor releases from underground waste-storage tanks.
In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson says the U.S. Department of Energy has known about the problem of vapors sickening workers at the site since the late 1980s, but it hasn’t fixed it. There were more than 50 reports of workers being exposed to vapors between January 2014 and April 2015.
“Enough is enough. The health risks are real, and the state is taking action today to ensure the federal government protects these workers now and in the future,” Ferguson said in a statement.
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A 2010 consent decree resolved a lawsuit filed by the state in 2008 when it became apparent that the Department of Energy could not meet deadlines. The consent decree set new deadlines to be enforced by the court. But now most of the remaining deadlines in the consent decree are at serious risk of being missed by the Department of Energy.
Read more: http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/ap/national/article_bd4a8c2d-bdd2-5d72-abba-46d165cdc79c.html
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