YAKIMA – Sam Volpentest, a lobbyist known for his tireless efforts to secure federal funding for the Hanford nuclear reservation and the nearby Tri-Cities, has died, four days after his 101st birthday.
Volpentest was believed to be the oldest living lobbyist registered with the U.S. Congress. He continued to work and lobby on behalf of the Tri-City Industrial Development Council until eight weeks ago, and died Wednesday at Kadlec Medical Center in Richland, said Gary Petersen of the council.
“At 100 years of age, his mind was as crystal clear as anything I’ve ever seen,” Petersen said. “He was just a phenomenon.”
In a statement, Gov. Christine Gregoire said, “Sam Volpentest was a great friend with a heart of gold. He was a visionary who believed in the Tri-Cities area and its potential. He will be greatly missed.”
Included among the projects for which Volpentest sought funding are Richland’s six-story federal building, twin bridges over the Columbia River – one of which bears his name – and three freeways linking cities in Eastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.
But much of his effort can be seen at the Hanford nuclear site, where work today centers on the $50 billion to $60 billion environmental cleanup. The site is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Volpentest vigorously fought for funding for the Fast Flux Test Facility, a one-of-a-kind reactor built to test advanced nuclear fuels, and the N Reactor Generating Plant, which is attached to one of nine nuclear reactors at the site, among other projects.
He also helped gain money for the so-called HAMMER facility, which provides safety and security training for nuclear cleanup, homeland security and other missions.
In an interview with The Associated Press to mark his 100th birthday last year, Volpentest called his efforts to have the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, an Energy Department science lab, built in the Tri-Cities instead of Seattle his “biggest win” in 40 years as a registered lobbyist.
“The lab provides a foundation for the Tri-Cities, for the state of Washington and for the whole Northwest. They have very talented people out there, and they will bring a lot of businesses out here,” he said.
Volpentest was born Sept. 24, 1904, in Seattle. He graduated from Broadway High School in 1922, after which he worked in grocery and food service businesses for more than two decades. In 1948, he moved to Eastern Washington, where he operated taverns, restaurants and a radio station and organized two independent banks.
In 1963, Volpentest was one of three founders of the Tri-Cities Nuclear Industrial Council, now TRIDEC, to foster development in the Richland, Kennewick and Pasco communities.
Volpentest was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Emily, in the 1980s. He is survived by daughter Jane, sons William and Samual, 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
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