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Comprehensive Inspection of Hanford Reservation to Begin
Release Date: 5/11/1998
Contact Information: Bob Jacobson
[email protected]
(206) 553-1203
May 11, 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - 98-23
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A team of 30 highly-trained federal and state inspectors --engineers, scientists and other experienced investigators --today began what's called a "multi-media inspection" of the Energy Department's Hanford Reservation to check for compliance with federal and state environmental laws.
It's the first time a multi-media inspection has ever been performed at Hanford, according to Doug Smith, the veteran U. S. Environmental Protection Agency inspector leading the team of personnel from EPA, the Washington Department of Ecology and the Washington Department of Health.
"When we conduct a multi-media inspection we take a look at all environmental media -- soil, water, air --- that can be affected by contaminants, and we look at all the possible contaminants from both a state and federal regulatory perspective," Smith said. "There's less chance you'll overlook a problem if you check out everything all at once."
As an example of how a single media inspection could miss something, Smith said a check for compliance with the Clean Air Act would include emission readings from the top of a stack, but might not consider how ash at the bottom of the stack is disposed of. The air inspector would know the Clean Air Act inside and out, but wouldn't necessarily check for compliance of hazardous waste laws.
"A multi-media inspection is the most comprehensive compliance tool we have," Smith said.
Multi-media inspections are performed on a ongoing basis by EPA, usually in conjunction with state agencies, at large facilities with a variety of waste streams that present a potential for serious pollution of the environment. In recent years in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, EPA has conducted such inspections at large pulp and paper mills, a microchip manufacturing plant, the Alyeska oil terminal at Valdez, the FMC phosphorous plant in Pocatello, aluminum smelters, the Boeing plant in Auburn, and a number of military bases that include the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton and the nuclear submarine base at Bangor.
At Hanford, EPA, Ecology and Health inspectors will check for compliance with the full array of federal and state environmental laws. The federal statutes include the Clean Water Act; the Clean Air Act; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (the hazardous waste law); the Safe Drinking Water Act; the Oil Pollution Act; and the Federal insecticide, Rodenticide and Fungicide Act.
"It's an ambitious task, and there's no way to tell how long the inspection will require," Smith said. "We'll be there as long as it takes."
Results of the inspection may not be known for months. Samples taken at Hanford may produce lab data that need cross-checking with other data. No results will be announced publicly until the review of all data is completed. The only exception would be in a situation where the inspectors find an imminent threat to human health. If that were to happen, there would be an immediate public announcement.
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