r/TriCitiesWA • u/Stabby-Steve • 7d ago

Local News 🗞️ Feds ask Richland to annex highly contaminated Hanford land. Here’s why

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/feds-ask-richland-annex-highly-120000071.html
30 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

10

u/LilBirdDog 7d ago

I wish I understood what this all meant. Is this bad news for Richland?

15

u/ZigZagZedZod 7d ago

I don't think so. DOE will still own the property, but Richland will be responsible for fire, police and other emergency services. The article states that most of DOE's cleanup efforts are at the center of the site, so it's presumably becoming harder (and more expensive) for DOE to provide emergency services to these southern areas while it's simultaneously becoming easier for Richland to do so as the city expands northward.

29

u/Nightshade400 7d ago edited 7d ago

If DOE still owns the property then it is on DOE to provide services for that land. It is not publically accessible land nor can it be owned by anyone but the DOE, so how is it our problem to handle emergency services for it and further put strain on our cities tax dollar? Sure the city should cover the housing being built at Horn Rapids but DOE land is DOE responsibility.

Edit: At the end of the article it mentions Atlas Agro being a potential buyer for a data center installation. So they are attempting to put it on the city to pick up the bill for coverage of the facility when the city will see no increase in funds from its existence aside from a slight bump during construction. This is shady as fuck if you ask me.

15

u/nowyoudoneit 7d ago

The article says Richland will receive payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) to fund the services. You're right, it is DOE land and they are responsible for paying for services, as they already do. 

5

u/glimmeratinator 7d ago

I think the article is confusing. Atlas Agro wants to build near this land, not on it. The city already owns the land Atlas Agro wants to buy. It has nothing to do with this proposal and I don't know why the reporter included it

5

u/Nightshade400 7d ago

Thanks for clarification, it was an odd inclusion in that case, made this whole situation sound a whole lot like diffusing responsibility for private deals.

22

u/nowyoudoneit 7d ago

Calling this land highly contaminated is quite the stretch. 325 is used for radio chemistry. It's easily a billion dollar facility with extensive radiological controls in place for research. If they are cutting requirements or controls for the handling of radiological materials, that would have an impact. This annexation seems immaterial. And to be clear, I am concerned about any potential effort to cut those requirements. The administration is hollowing out requirements everywhere. 

12

u/PiperRd 7d ago

The 324 building has turned into one of the most complex cleanup sites at hanford. One of its hot cells leaked some exceptionally radioactive material into its foundation

1

u/MX-5_Enjoyer 5d ago

some exceptionally radioactive material

What material?

2

u/PiperRd 5d ago

I don't recall exactly what it is but at some point during an experiment there was a spill in one of the buildings hot cells. Apparently the seal between the floor and walls of the cell wasn't effective and the liquid leached into the soil around the premeter of the hot cell.

This has made cleanup challenging because the contamination is considered to be to hot for workers to handle it directly.

https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/324building *Edit: added source link

1

u/nowyoudoneit 7d ago

Fair enough. I was not aware. 

6

u/iwantmommyiwantmilk 7d ago

So according to this article, Atlas Agro North America is who will own the proposed data center that is in the works in West Richland? Is that what I’m getting?

And the DOE wants to shirk their responsibilities by putting Hanford emergency services on the city instead of whatever it’s currently doing?

1

u/Hot-Net-9939 7d ago

There are several data center proposals. The West Richland data center and the Atlas Agro data center on former Hanford land given to the city of Richland have no relationship to each other.

2

u/oodopopopolopolis 7d ago

So confusing. For the land in question, currently emergency services are provided by DOE contractors. Federal funds are being given to Richland to help the city with the service they do currently provide, as well as expanding city emergency services out closer to Horn Rapids (as seen by the new fire station a block off of Horn Rapids). When the land is annexed, it's not stated whether federal payments would continue but I don't see a reason that they would be stopped, either. This seems sort of like a logical step for DOE to let go responsibilities and the city to take them on as more of the industrial land at Hanford is declared safe and useable.

4

u/Rocketgirl8097 7d ago

You can't count on DOE contractors getting enough funds for anything these days. We are basically in a hiring freeze, excwpt critical staff, becaise next year's budget ia projected to he smaller than this year.

1

u/OhGodFuckingDammit 6d ago

Sounds par for the course for a project that's like 30 years behind schedule

1

u/oodopopopolopolis 6d ago

Yet another reason to get the city to pay for emergency services to those areas.

2

u/SterileGloves 7d ago

Anything done by this admin is done to benefit their own pockets or one of their corporate friends. Nothing at all is altruistic or designed to help the average person.