Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board to Meet March 19-20 in Mosier

Contact:
Cliff Voliva, 503-378-3637
Rachel Wray, 503-689-0294

SALEM — The Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board will meet March 19-20 at the Mosier Senior Center, 500 E. 2nd Street, in Mosier. The meeting starts at 2 p.m. on Monday and reconvenes at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

The board, which gathers three times a year, provides policy advice to Oregon’s Governor, legislature, and the Department of Energy on a wide range of issues regarding cleanup of the Hanford nuclear site in southeast Washington, just north of Oregon’s border.

At the two-day public meeting, the board will:

• Receive an update from the U.S. Department of Energy on its plans to move forward with treating some Hanford tank waste in the early 2020s through use of direct-feed low activity waste treatment.
• Get an update from USDOE on efforts to fully understand and resolve problems associated with contamination spreading during demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, along with plans to complete the demolition.

The public will have an opportunity to comment to the board each day. A full meeting agenda is on the Oregon Department of Energy’s website: www.oregon.gov/energy/facilities-safety/safety/Pages/Oregon-Hanford-Cleanup-Board.aspx

To request an interpreter for the hearing impaired or accommodations for persons with disabilities, please contact ODOE at least 72 hours before the meeting at 1-800-221-8035 or fax 503-373-7806. TTY users should call the Oregon Relay Service at 711.

For the last 25 years, Hanford has been the site of the world’s largest environmental cleanup program, the result of wastes created during the production of plutonium for America’s nuclear weapons program. Cleanup will continue for at least the next several decades.

Part of the Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board’s mission is to protect the Columbia River and Oregon from possible contamination from the Hanford site. The board is composed of citizens, a representative of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, a representative of the Governor, state agency representatives, and state legislators. ODOE serves as staff to the board.