New Cost Estimate For Hanford Clean Up

Annette Cary, writing in the TriCity Herald, reports on the in-and-outs of the new $112 Billion guesstimate. Me, I think Congress should boot the foot-dragging DOE off the site and give the budget and responsibility to the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army built the place, let them clean it up.

While tiny compared to Hanford (what isn't?), there are numerous small sites around the country, mostly in the east, where ores were refined and feedstocks fabricated as part of the Manhattan Project. These are being cleaned up under FUSRAP (Formerly Utilized Sites Remediation Action Program). In 1997, under impetus from former Congressman LaFalce of western New York, whose district included several sites, Congress fired DOE and brought in the Corps to deal with these sites. It was like night and day. The DOE foot-dragging gave way to a positive attitude of "let's get the job done." All laws were still complied with; the public still involved. But things started to happen. Try it at Hanford.