Oregon Public Broadcasting

Each year Hanford’s top officials turn out for a town-hall-style meeting to answer questions about radioactive waste cleanup in southeast Washington. The event is called the “State of the Site.”

Correspondent Anna King attended the meeting in Kennewick. The audience included hundreds of sick retired workers, disgruntled employees and curious residents.

Sara Palin and Joe Biden’s debate may have kept a lot of people home last Thursday night. But in southeast Washington, people just taped it.

That’s because hundreds of people wanted to go to a different debate -- the annual State of the Site meeting. The public forums have been going on for seven years now. It’s a once-a-year opportunity for the public to talk directly with Hanford’s top leaders and hold them accountable.

Announcer:  “As much as possible this is an opportunity to ask questions, not make lengthy statements....”

Much of the meeting was dominated by sick Hanford tank farm workers. Some have retired; others have concerns over what’s going on now.

The tank farms are where 53 million gallons of radioactive chemicals are stored in aging underground tanks at Hanford. The federal government is trying to keep the tanks stable until they can process the toxic brew into glass logs.

Linda Coldiron, was a tank farm worker for 11 years. She took readings off of gages at the tank farms from the early 90s through 2003.

Coldiron says vapors coming up out of those tanks have made her sick. She says she smelled the chemicals, but the company she worked for never tested what she was breathing in.

Linda Coldiron: "I’ve worked with a lot of people. And a bunch of people are dying constantly. And a lot of people are sick and they are going to die from the chemical, the vapor exposures out there. And everyone just keeps denying it. Everyone keeps denying that people are being exposed to it."

Many retired workers who complained at the meeting were fed up with the federal program that compensates workers for past radiation exposure. They say it’s an endless stream of paperwork that is almost impossible to navigate.

State and federal managers listened closely and scribbled on notepads as each person took the mic.

Dave Brockman with the U.S. Department of Energy says he will get answers for their concerns.

About the tank farms, Hanford contractors say a lot has changed since Coldiron worked there. They say now tank farm employees have the option to breathe from air tanks and there’s real-time air monitoring.

Washington River Protection Solutions just took over management of the tank farms last Wednesday.

Jerry Holloway, is a spokesman for the company. He says the new contractor can’t respond to Coldiron’s charges, but that the company is committed to a safer work environment.

Jerry Holloway: "We’re very aware of the hazardous nature of the work out there. We want to keep the employees safe, we are involving the employees in those decisions. And we believe we’ll be able to operate safely."

Holloway says the new company is talking to employees and an independent panel of experts to make sure the tank farms become safer for workers. As for Coldiron, who has a lot of tank farm operator friends, she has doubts much has improved at her old workplace.

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