We’re at a crucial inflection point in cleaning up one of the world’s most complex environmental cleanup sites at Hanford.

While exceptional progress has been made over the last year, now more than ever, it’s critical we maintain this momentum and deliver on the cleanup mission.

Earlier this year our Washington State Department of Ecology, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a landmark Holistic Agreement outlining a realistic and achievable course for cleaning up some of Hanford’s most dangerous waste.

This waste, 56 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous chemicals, sits in 177 large underground tanks that are well past their design lives. This waste, if not cleaned up, threatens the environment and communities nearby and along the Columbia River.

Under this agreement, we’re on track to begin solidifying low-activity waste in a stable glass form later this summer – a milestone more than 35 years in the making. Hanford’s high-level waste is expected to begin being treated in 2033.

Ecology’s permit team with a printed version of the Hanford Sitewide Permit in 2012, the last time the permit was issued for public comment. 

| Courtesy Washington State Department of Ecology

Ecology has supported this effort by issuing more than 50 permits needed for the commissioning and startup of low-activity waste treatment and will continue to work closely with DOE on the rest of the commissioning process.

The agencies will further expedite tank waste cleanup under the new agreement by solidifying low-activity waste from 22 tanks in a concrete-like mixture called grout. That waste will be disposed of outside of Washington state.

This Holistic Agreement reflects remarkable collaboration and strong alignment between our three agencies. While we haven’t always been able to see eye-to-eye on cleanup issues, this agreement outlines a unified vision and priority for cleaning up Hanford’s tank waste.

We look forward to continued implementation of the Holistic Agreement and to getting waste out of tanks, treated and permanently disposed of in a much safer form.

Permitting cleanup

Tank waste isn’t our only priority at Hanford. We’ve continued to make strong progress on other projects and look to build our momentum across the entire site.

One such project is the renewal of the Hanford Sitewide Permit. As we shared last year, this permit is one of Ecology’s most important tools for overseeing DOE’s storage, treatment and disposal of mixed hazardous and radioactive waste at Hanford.

This permit is a big lift – to the tune of more than 20,000 pages. While we hoped to get it out for public comment last year, we’re closer to completing and sending it out later this year for comment supported by a robust public involvement effort.

We’ve also got several other important permit renewals going out for public input this year, including:

• Hanford’s Air Operating Permit, which regulates air emissions from the Hanford site.
• Perma-Fix Northwest Dangerous Waste Permit, a permit for a facility in Richland that stores and treats mixed waste from Hanford.

Ecology Nuclear Waste Program Manager Stephanie Schleif and Communications Manager Ryan Miller visit Washington, D.C., in 2024 to advocate for Hanford’s budget.

| Courtesy Washington State Department of Ecology

On the horizon

There is a variety of other crucial work happening at Hanford that we’re supporting now and in the near future.

Soil and groundwater cleanup across the site continues to be one of Hanford’s most successful projects. DOE has treated more than 30 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater, reducing contamination plumes by more than 20 square miles so far. We’re working with EPA and DOE to ensure this crucial remediation work continues.

Over the next few years, DOE will transfer more than 1,900 highly radioactive cesium and strontium capsules from permitted wet storage to newly permitted safer dry storage. This will significantly reduce the risk of impact to these capsules in the event of an emergency such as an earthquake.

Hanford is also currently home to a large amount of transuranic waste – materials or waste contaminated with man-made radioactive elements. Another priority for our agency is to resume offsite shipment of this waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico by 2028.

One other crucial priority we’re tracking is the nationwide need for a deep geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste from Hanford and other cleanup sites.

However, all of this work requires sufficient federal funding and meaningful public engagement.

We’ve been a strong advocate for Hanford’s budget in the other Washington. We will continue to champion Hanford site cleanup with our congressional representatives and the federal administration and obtain the dollars needed to get the job done.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re committed to effectively engaging with communities impacted by cleanup and incorporating feedback into the decisions we make as a regulator. Increasing awareness of and involvement in Hanford decisions is crucial to progressing the cleanup mission.

A 2017 photo of cesium and strontium capsules stored underwater at Hanford’s Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility.

| Courtesy U.S. Department of Energy.

Committed to cleanup

Now is the time for us to deliver on, not back away from, the legally binding agreements and commitments to Hanford and the people of Washington state.

We’re hard at work to ensure these agreements are upheld, we keep focus, and Hanford’s tremendous progress continues. We look forward to further advocating for Hanford’s budget, supporting the startup of tank waste treatment this year, and continuing to partner with our Tri-Party Agreement partners on accomplishing cleanup work across the site.

Our agency remains committed to ensuring Hanford cleanup is protective of human health and the environment for current and future generation

Stephanie Schleif is the program manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program.