RICHLAND — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is fining the U.S. Department of Energy up to $10,000 for each week it fails to start moving radioactive sludge at Hanford away from the Columbia River.
The Tri-Party Agreement required DOE to begin removing sludge from the K West Basin by Sept. 30.
The Tri-City Herald reports the Energy Department missed that deadline, and is proposing an extension to an undetermined date.
The EPA on Tuesday denied the extension and begun assessing fines. The fine for the first week is $5,000, increasing to $10,000 for each additional week that DOE fails to start removing sludge.
Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons, and now is engaged in cleaning up the nation’s largest collection of radioactive wastes.
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