SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
November 17, 2006
http://seattlepi. nwsource. com/local/ 6420AP_WST_ Hanford_Fine. html
By SHANNON DININNY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
YAKIMA, Wash. -- CH2M Hill Hanford Group, a contractor hired to help
clean up the highly contaminated Hanford nuclear reservation, will be
fined $82,500 for violating nuclear safety requirements, the
Department of Energy announced Friday.
CH2M Hill is the primary contractor responsible for retrieving
hazardous and radioactive waste from 177 underground tanks at the
site. The toxic stew was left from decades of plutonium production
for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal.
The preliminary notice of violation issued Friday cited a series of
violations associated with two separate events, during which
employees were contaminated with radioactivity.
On Sept. 21, 2005, when workers were removing equipment used to
retrieve waste from one of the tanks, they were contaminated with
highly radioactive waste while disconnecting a pressurized hose that
was contaminated inside. Workers again were contaminated on March 6,
while removing a camera from a radioactively contaminated catch tank.
None of the contaminated employees exceeded regulatory exposure
limits, the Energy Department said in a statement.
"The proposed civil penalty of $82,500 is based on the overall
significance of the violations and reflects mitigation granted by the
department for prompt, corrective actions taken by (CH2M Hill) to
prevent recurrence," the statement said.
The company must respond to the notice within 30 days.
CH2M Hill voluntarily reported the events and took corrective action,
leading the Energy Department to reduce the proposed penalty by 50
percent, said Mark Spears, company president and chief executive
officer.
Among the corrective actions: CH2M Hill improved work processes,
added new training for managers and support personnel and improved
emergency response planning.
"Our goal is to maintain the highest standards of safety performance.
The events cited in the enforcement action clearly fell below the
mark," Spears said. "We partnered with our work force to improve our
processes and the dramatic improvement in our safety and compliance
performance over the past year is testament to the effectiveness of
these actions and the quality of our workers."
The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the
top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. The site
produced the plutonium for the Fat Man bomb that was dropped on
Nagasaki, Japan, effectively ending World War II, and continued to
produce plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal through
the Cold War.
Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. Focus has
shifted to cleanup, which is expected to top $50 billion and continue
through 2035.
November 17, 2006
http://seattlepi. nwsource. com/local/ 6420AP_WST_ Hanford_Fine. html
By SHANNON DININNY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
YAKIMA, Wash. -- CH2M Hill Hanford Group, a contractor hired to help
clean up the highly contaminated Hanford nuclear reservation, will be
fined $82,500 for violating nuclear safety requirements, the
Department of Energy announced Friday.
CH2M Hill is the primary contractor responsible for retrieving
hazardous and radioactive waste from 177 underground tanks at the
site. The toxic stew was left from decades of plutonium production
for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal.
The preliminary notice of violation issued Friday cited a series of
violations associated with two separate events, during which
employees were contaminated with radioactivity.
On Sept. 21, 2005, when workers were removing equipment used to
retrieve waste from one of the tanks, they were contaminated with
highly radioactive waste while disconnecting a pressurized hose that
was contaminated inside. Workers again were contaminated on March 6,
while removing a camera from a radioactively contaminated catch tank.
None of the contaminated employees exceeded regulatory exposure
limits, the Energy Department said in a statement.
"The proposed civil penalty of $82,500 is based on the overall
significance of the violations and reflects mitigation granted by the
department for prompt, corrective actions taken by (CH2M Hill) to
prevent recurrence," the statement said.
The company must respond to the notice within 30 days.
CH2M Hill voluntarily reported the events and took corrective action,
leading the Energy Department to reduce the proposed penalty by 50
percent, said Mark Spears, company president and chief executive
officer.
Among the corrective actions: CH2M Hill improved work processes,
added new training for managers and support personnel and improved
emergency response planning.
"Our goal is to maintain the highest standards of safety performance.
The events cited in the enforcement action clearly fell below the
mark," Spears said. "We partnered with our work force to improve our
processes and the dramatic improvement in our safety and compliance
performance over the past year is testament to the effectiveness of
these actions and the quality of our workers."
The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the
top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. The site
produced the plutonium for the Fat Man bomb that was dropped on
Nagasaki, Japan, effectively ending World War II, and continued to
produce plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal through
the Cold War.
Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. Focus has
shifted to cleanup, which is expected to top $50 billion and continue
through 2035.
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