Articles by Guest Contributor
More trees or fewer? The balancing act of the Trillion Trees Act
Every year on Arbor Day school children across the United States are told about the many benefits trees provide to people and the environment. To drive the point home, schoolchildren are given saplings to plant, so they can watch them grow and feel a connection to the environment. Invariably there are cute pictures of kids…
Teens can cause car wrecks but it’s parents who pay
From time to time, it is important to take stock of our own personal liability exposure and find ways to mitigate it. Liability exposure can creep into our lives in subtle ways that can have profound effects on our financial security. One such way that a person can expose himself or herself to additional liability…
Commuting in the Tri-Cities: It’s about the car
Let’s face it – the Tri-Cities is a car town, or set of car towns. The number of miles Tri-Citians travel daily owes its origins to the settlement of not one, but three cities, or four, counting West Richland, in an area that has some distance between the communities. There are other reasons, too, which…
Can you opt out of state’s new Long Term Care Act and tax? Should you?
Washington state has adopted a first-of-its-kind law that both provides a new long-term care benefit and pays for the new benefit with a new tax collected by employers. Its formal name is the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program. Many employers and employees are scrambling to understand the implications of this new law. This column…
Covid-19 slowed but did not stop progress on Hanford cleanup
An act of God. Or, among lawyers, a force majeure. Many contracts have force majeure clauses to govern what happens when faced with circumstances beyond anyone’s control. The global Covid-19 pandemic certainly falls into this category. How much did Covid-19 affect Hanford’s cleanup mission? Not much in the big picture. Some tank waste pumping will…
Hanford plant is on cusp of melting waste after an eventful 2020
The Hanford site team has consistently supported our nation during unprecedented times and this year has been no different. The innovation and determination of our workers, from the most experienced leaders to those just starting their careers, have ensured success throughout our site history during both the national security mission of the past and today’s…
What does a new administration mean for Hanford?
What does having a new president in office mean for Hanford? Specifically, what does it mean to have President Joe Biden, a former vice president and longtime U.S. senator, in the Oval Office? What does it mean to have Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, at the helm at the U.S. Department of Energy…
State’s new manager hopes to offer fresh look at Hanford’s challenging issues
As the new manager for the state of Washington’s Nuclear Waste Program, I appreciate the opportunity to reach out and introduce myself to the Tri-City community. I’ve been on the job at Nuclear Waste for the past several months, but I’m not new to this area or its economy and concerns. I’m a 50-plus year…
Bechtel’s vitrification plant heating up in 2021
Progress is heating up at Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. Also known as the vit plant, the project is taking a permanent step forward at the end of this year – heating up our first 300-ton low-activity waste melter. The melters are the heart of the vitrification process, which will turn Hanford’s waste into…
Building on past progress for a brighter future
Jan. 25 marked our official start of work as the new contractor for nuclear waste cleanup on the Hanford site’s Central Plateau and along the Columbia River. On behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford cleanup mission, the Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) will continue the risk-reduction activities managed by previous contractor, CH2M…
