SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES
RICHLAND -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined the U.S. Energy Department $75,000 for failing to meet a legal deadline for moving radioactive sludge at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation into underwater containers.
The Energy Department was required to have radioactive sludge in the K East basin in containers by March 1. The work is a little more than half done, the EPA said by letter Thursday.
The EPA also issued a notice of violation for not following a required plan for analyzing radioactively contaminated debris removed from the K Basins for nearly 2 1/2 years. That potentially allowed waste contaminated with plutonium to be buried at a Hanford landfill, the EPA said.
The federal government requires that such waste be sent to a national repository in New Mexico. The violation could lead to another fine. <snip>
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