A multitude of possible studies to determine harm to plants, animals, land and water at Hanford are outlined in a new draft report.
The Hanford Natural Resource Trustee's Draft Injury Assessment Plan is an early step toward a legally required assessment of
A multitude of possible studies to determine harm to plants, animals, land and water at Hanford are outlined in a new draft report.
The Hanford Natural Resource Trustee's Draft Injury Assessment Plan is an early step toward a legally required assessment of how hazardous chemicals and radionuclides have harmed natural resources at the nuclear reservation.
The trustees, who represent various governments, plan a meeting from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 12 to discuss the draft report and allow the public to ask questions and offer written comments. The meeting will be at the Richland Public Library's Gallery Room, 955 Northgate Drive.
After public input is collected, a final version of the report will be released and decisions will be made on how to prioritize and proceed with studies, taking into account cost. The studies would be paid for out of the DOE Hanford annual budget.
The proposed work includes looking at the extensive environmental monitoring already done at Hanford, where plutonium was produced for the nation's nuclear weapons program during World War II and the Cold War. But the trustees expect more studies to be needed to more thoroughly determine what harm occurred and the extent of the harm.
The trustees also will consider harm from current and past loss of use of resources, such as the decades that tribes have been prevented from gathering traditional native foods at Hanford.
Proposed studies include a look at Columbia river mussels, which provide food for animals and filter particulate matter, improving water quality. A previous study has found some abnormalities in mussels, and chromium, which is particularly toxic to aquatic life, is known to reach the river near some Hanford reactors.
Great Basin pocket mice, a burrowing animal, could be collected to check for evidence of harm to their livers from carbon tetrachloride, a soil contaminant in some Hanford areas.
Another study is proposed to look