Lest I be indelicate, I cannot let the visit from our president come and go without expressing my desire that after he flies over the mudslide and comforts the dozens of victims’ families of that horrific tragedy, he continue his travels to Hanford. I’d like President Obama to not only fly over one of the major nuclear waste sites in our country, but to land and walk around. I would then be impressed by his concern for the people of Washington. I would like him to be accompanied by our governor and senator. He’s going to be here anyway.
President Obama needs to visit our own nuclear waste facility, and speak privately with the dozens of men and women who have just recently become extremely ill from some unknown substance leaking where they work at our aging nuclear waste facility. Maybe then our president could be instrumental in preventing an unparalleled potential tragedy, not simply commiserating with those who have had to suffer through one.
Hanford is the best, dirtiest, scariest little secret Washington has. And as our governor and senators photo-op while singing bible hymns with the devastated community up north, the Hanford site, a much more far reaching and dangerous concern for all of us in Washington, spews vapors strong enough to give one worker continual nosebleeds and headaches and cause her fellow worker to breathe so poorly he can hardly talk without coughing and gagging.
President Obama needs to shine a light on this travesty called Hanford.
Workers he says he cares a lot about are sick, but afraid to speak up because they will lose their jobs. They are being ordered back to work and given Tylenol and cough drops when they complain. At least two have lost their jobs for not returning to work when told to. This travesty should not continue. The president, governor and senators who have time to visit Oso, should take the time to visit Hanford.
And I sure hope I’m wrong on this additional worry; but I think I just read something about President Obama feeling good because we are going to take two other countries’ waste so that we can garner better relations. I sure hope that waste is not going to be dumped at Hanford. That might just accelerate the current highly combustible stressed situation. Oh, but I forget, President Obama lives on the East Coast.
Patricia Therrell
Snohomish
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