KICK his A**!

I want to see extensive oversight of DOE (Department of Energy). Here in Washington State, the Hanford, the most toxic piece of real estate in the country, was the first full-scale plutonium enrichment facility in the nation (1943). It produced the materials for the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan during the Second World War. Designated the largest EPA Superfund cleanup site, it continues to leech nuclear waste into the soil (permeating the water table and the ground water), as well as release toxic radioactive vapors into the air. Only a few years ago, Mercury was measured at 477% above the safe limit, and Ammonia at 1800% beyond acceptable limits.

It only gets worse from there.

In December (2018), the trmp administration sued the State of Washington over compensation benefits pay to workers at the site. Our governor, Jay Inslee declared "This is a depraved action. The people who fought communism shouldn't have to fight their federal government to get the health care that they deserve."

I shudder to think what has been going on within DOE since the election, as there is no discernible leadership at the Agency right now.

Hi Haggis,
I grew up in Richland WA so some of what you said stood out as wrong. You did get the important stuff right - this is one of the most deadly sites in the USA. The plutonium produced there went into only one bomb - Fat Man which was dropped on Nagasaki.

I lost my father in law to Hanford, as he was part of a statistically large group with a particular form of cancer. I have seen too many different government contractors whose sole job is to deny every worker complaint out there. It is a scam.

It saddens me to hear about your FIL. And if I got anything wrong, I apologize.

I have a Masters in Public Administration, the emphasis on environmental sciences. Back in 1990, a group of us were presenting a numbers-heavy paper at UT-Austin on the abysmal record of clean up efforts at the Hanford. We noticed some people in the audience that didn't look like academics (too well dressed), but didn't think much of it until the next day. We attended a presentation by DOE, and lo and behold, there were the guys in the expensive suits, telling us about the significant progress the contractors were making at the Hanford. They had said at the onset that they would take questions after they spoke, but that was before they noticed the five of us in the front row, notepads on our knees, pens at the ready.

It's outrageous that 29 years later, the clean up at the Hanford is still a work in progress and people are still being exposed to toxic chemicals and radioactive contamination. There are so many people who have developed rare and usual cancers, respiratory illnesses and severe neurological disorders (including extreme dementias in people younger than 40) that there should be a national outcry.

It infuriated me that the current WH would sue Washington for trying to help the people who worked there find some comfort and relief in their suffering.

I keep up with any news on the Hanford, but PLEASE post whatever you can to keep us all updated.

When I was in high school during the 70s, I worked in a dosimetry lab for a govt contractor. More than 40 years ago we could see the creeping of nasty metals through the ecosystem.

I left that world and never looked back, although I still visit my MIL. My own opinion is that our government understands that none of this cleanup has been done right. They are trying to cover that up to keep the legal exposure to a minimum.

If you want to see how bad the health issues really are, talk to the hospice services in the Tri-cities.

So, when stories break, please post them here. I'd like to keep up with what's going on. I worked on Hanford stats and reports for years, though I'm retired now. It's still important to me.

Hope your family is well. Take care. There's no such thing as a safe down wind breeze from the Hanford.

smash-and-grab criminals.

for the House majority.

The Republicans are OBSTRUCTING on everything. Everything.

Inherent Contempt Power and the Capital Police Holding Cell before all this Retrumplican bullshit if over.