Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon is joining the state of Washington in a lawsuit over clean-up at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.  

The two states allege the federal government is falling decades behind in its goal to clean up radioactive waste.  

The waste is leftover from plutonium production during World War Two and the Cold War.

 Oregon Attorney General John Kroger says even though the plant is in Washington state, waste leaking out of the site could end up in Oregon.

John Kroger:  “If the contamination entered the Columbia River, we’d have a major threat to the eco-system that supports salmon, but also to all the uses that we put the Columbia, including irrigation.  So the risk is significant.”

Kroger says a treatment plant to clean up the radioactive tank waste should have been operating ten years ago.

Now the vitrification plant isn’t projected to start treating waste until 2019.

Online:

Department of Energy Hanford