Cumulative Impacts and Risks to Groundwater and Columbia River from Hanford Site Contaminants. P. G. Doctor, Bechtel Hanford, Inc. Richland, WA; B. L. Harper, Yakama Indian Nation, Richland, WA; S. G. Harris, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Pendleton, OR; and N. K. Lane, Lane Environmental, Inc., Richland, WA
The Hanford Site in Southeastern Washington State manufactured plutonium for nuclear weapons for the U.S. government during the Cold War. Since the late 1980’s the mission of the Site has turned to the cleanup of the radionuclide and chemical contamination in the environment resulting from the plutonium production mission. The Hanford Site contains the last free-flowing section of the Columbia River (Columbia Reach) in the U.S. which contains the largest spawning area of fall chinook salmon. Wide-spread concern over the impact of Hanford contamination on water resources of the Columbia Basin led the U.S. Department of Energy to initiate the Groundwater/Vadose Zone Project. One of its missions is to assess the cumulative health and the environmental effects of radioactive and chemical materials on water-dependent life and users of the Columbia River resources. The scope of the assessment includes impacts to human health, environmental, socio-cultural and socio-economic resources. The assessment relies on the use of dependency webs to identify the resources at risk at locations that could be impacted by Hanford contamination. The approach to the assessment, which includes tribal, regulator, stakeholder and public participation at all stages of the analysis, will be described in the context of the cleanup decisions facing the Site.
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