Agreement reached on fixing leaking tanks
By Terry Murry on Monday, August 29th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
RICHLAND – The Washington State Department of Ecology and the U.S. Department of Energy have reached an agreement on how to respond to two underground tanks that are leaking radioactive waste as well as any future tank leaks at the Hanford Site.
The federal department announced in April 2021, following a year-long leak assessment, that Tank B-109 is leaking waste into the surrounding soil. Tank T-111 was discovered to be leaking in 2013. To address these environmental concerns, a legally binding agreed order was developed between state and the federal government.
Under the order, DOE will cover the T and B tank farms with surface barriers to prevent rain or snowmelt from seeping into the tanks and to slow the migration of leaked waste towards the groundwater; develop a response plan for future leaks from single-shell tanks; evaluate the viability of installing a ventilation system to evaporate liquid waste from Tank B-109; evaluate conditions in and around tanks B-109 and T-111 to determine if additional work is needed to prevent liquids from getting in; and explore ways to accelerate the schedule to retrieve waste from tanks B-109 and T-111.
There will be public input opportunities on the agreement during the permitting process. Tank B-109 holds about 123,000 gallons of waste which is mostly saltcake and sludge, with about 13,000 gallons of residual liquid. T-111 holds and estimated 397,000 gallons of waste; about 37,000 is liquid waste within sludge. DOE estimates Tank B-109 is leaking about 560 gallons of waste per year, and Tank T-111 is leaking about 300 gallons per year, and it could take 25 or more years for waste from Tank B-109 and 70 or more years for Tank T-111 waste to reach groundwater.
