Op-Eds and Letters
Opinion articles and letters to the editor
May 24, 2021 — Questions for DOE and WA state about Hanford tank waste cleanup | Guest Opinion, by Gary Petersen and Bob Ferguson, Tri-City Herald
DOE has not put forth a credible, workable, or affordable plan that completes Hanford tank cleanup before the next century.
Grout is much faster and five times less expensive than vitrification, and the grouted waste would be disposed of out of the state of Washington.
February 27, 2021 — Rebuttal: ‘Extraordinary concern.’ by Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
A letter sent Friday to Jennifer Granholm, just a day after she was confirmed as energy secretary, was signed by leaders of Washington state, the Yakama Nation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Hanford Challenge and Columbia Riverkeeper.
This article in the E-Edition of the Tri-City Herald by the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington Attorney General, shared with several environmental watchdog groups and one Native American tribe, deserves a stinging rebuttal.
I cannot recall, EVER, a state agency sharing its Letterhead with non-government organizations, especially on an official letter sent to a newly confirmed Secretary of Energy.
How can Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Director of Ecology Laura Watson claim they are representing ALL the people of the State of Washington in asking the new Energy Secretary to abdicate DOE’s authority to classify nuclear waste?
Are they looking out for the best interests of our community? Are they overreaching their authority and in essence trying to re-negotiate the Tri-Party Agreement? To my knowledge, the Department of Ecology did NOT contact any of the regional organizations that represent the people of eastern Washington on this issue – namely, the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC), Hanford Communities, the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB), or Northwest Energy Associates. Several of these groups have submitted input that is supportive of DOE’s authority in this matter that is in direct opposition to Ecology’s letter.
This letter calls into question the original Atomic Energy Act, which has long established the DOE’s authority to classify radioactive waste.
The Washington State Department of Ecology is a regulatory agency, not a policy-making organization. This letter from Ecology and the Attorney General, which is co-signed by non-government agents, blatantly overstep the bounds of the state’s regulatory authority.
Gary Petersen, President, Northwest Energy Associates
February 26, 2021 — Guest Opinion: Hanford must meet Biden’s carbon emissions order
Executive orders have the effect of law — what will DOE Hanford do to meet President Biden’s carbon emissions reduction goals?
Feb. 10, 2021 — NEA backs Letter Sent by Tri-Cities to the Acting Secretary of Energy Huizenga
Expedite the release of new opportunities for local businesses to compete for work, either by reducing the six to nine-month timeline for new subcontracts, or identifying other service area subcontracting scopes that could quickly be released for competition.
Feb. 11, 2021 — Energy Communities Alliance Sends a Letter to DOE’s Acting Assistant Secretary Ike White
DOE EM’s new contracting model appears to negatively impact small businesses at Hanford. EM should mitigate the impact at Hanford and not award any other contracts until the impacts on our small businesses and communities are known.
March 29, 2020 -– Guest Opinion: Delay at Hanford is the wrong answer, by Gary Petersen, Tri-City Herald
As a recent Tri-City Herald Editorial pointed out, the Trump Administrations’ FY2021 budget request for the Department of Energy’s cleanup program is woefully inadequate. As a result of this reduced budget request, DOE’s proposal to delay work on the 324 Bldg., Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF), and groundwater pump-and-treat is grossly irresponsible and unacceptable.
November 13, 2019 -- Guest Opinion: No need to wait decades to move Hanford’s low activity waste, by Gary Petersen, Tri-City Herald
The National Academy clearly pointed out that vitrification of Low Activity Waste (LAW) from the tank farms at Hanford would cost $36 billion; grouting the LAW would cost $8 billion (grouting is successfully underway at Savannah River tank farms)…
Grouting LAW could save taxpayers some $28 billion, as well as speeding up the process of LAW retrievals from the 177 Hanford tanks. Some 90% of the 56 million gallons of waste in the Hanford tanks is low-level waste.
May 29, 2019 -- Guest Column: Tri-Party agreement has become government crutch, by Bob Ferguson, Bill Lampson, and Gary Petersen, Tri-City Herald
The Tri-Party Agreement Op-Ed article by former Governor Christine Gregoire and former Department Of Energy Hanford Site Manager Mike Lawrence provided an excellent history of the last 30 years of cleanup activities at Hanford under the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA).
However, when the Tri-Party Agreement was signed 30 years ago, none of the signees could have guessed that the life-cycle costs to complete the cleanup of Hanford would grow to an estimated range of $323 billion to $677 billion, or that cleanup could possibly take 100 years to complete. Tri-City community leaders believe the levels of Congressional funding required going forward are simply not sustainable.
January 28, 2019 -- The high cost of nuclear waste politics, by Robert L. Ferguson, Tri-City Herald
…taxpayers also don’t realize they’ve been saddled with nearly $500 billion in financial liability for managing 57 million gallons of nuclear waste at the Hanford Site from its past production of plutonium for nuclear weapons during World War II and the Cold War era. This waste is stored in aging, leaking underground tanks that present a growing safety risk to the Columbia River and residents living nearby…