Urges Congress to fund cleanup efforts at Hanford Nuclear Reservation and to expedite cleanup actions in order to safeguard public health and welfare and protect Columbia River.


 
 
 
     74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
 
 
                            Enrolled
 
                     Senate Joint Memorial 1
 
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
  President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
  rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
  of the President (at the request of Senate Interim Committee on
  Natural Resources and Alternative Energy)
 
 
To the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United
  States of America, in Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly
of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled,
respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas the United States Department of Energy's Hanford
Nuclear Reservation is the most contaminated site in North
America; and
  Whereas radioactive and chemical wastes stored at the Hanford
Nuclear Reservation pose a significant threat to the Columbia
River and to the health and welfare of Oregonians; and
  Whereas many of the storage facilities at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation are beyond their designed lifespan and have failed,
or are at imminent risk of failing; and
  Whereas contaminated ground water, which ultimately flows into
the Columbia River, presents a threat to human health and to
sensitive species in that river, including endangered salmon; and
  Whereas the environmental cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation is a top priority for Oregonians; and
  Whereas despite considerable progress with some cleanup
projects at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, significant work
remains, such as stabilizing tons of plutonium-bearing materials
and moving spent nuclear fuel from leak-prone basins near the
Columbia River to a more appropriate storage facility; and
  Whereas the United States Department of Energy is constructing
a complex of treatment facilities to vitrify the high-level
radioactive waste stored at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a
process that puts the waste into a stable form suitable for
long-term storage or disposal; and
  Whereas significant delays with the vitrification program may
result in treatment facilities not being available until 2019;
and
  Whereas the risk of further tank leaks will increase because of
these delays; and
  Whereas the delays will also result in difficulties removing
waste from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation's oldest tanks; and
  Whereas delays in moving Hanford's plutonium to off-site,
consolidated storage have caused the expenditure of tens of
millions of dollars of cleanup funds to be used to safeguard the
plutonium; and
  Whereas the State of Oregon is seeking standing under the
Hanford Tri-Party Agreement to affect decisions by the United
States Department of Energy, the United States Environmental
Protection Agency and the State of Washington regarding waste
management at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation; now, therefore,
 
 
 
Enrolled Senate Joint Memorial 1 (SJM 1-INTRO)             Page 1
 
 
 
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
 
  (1) The Congress of the United States is respectfully urged to:
  (a) Fully fund the cleanup effort at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation, including the construction of vitrification
facilities and other existing cleanup and waste management
efforts, to ensure the health and safety of Oregonians and the
health of the Columbia River;
  (b) Not artificially limit annual funding provided for
construction of the vitrification facilities and instead to seek
ways to complete the vitrification facilities before 2019; and
  (c) Direct the United States Department of Energy to do the
following:
  (A) Examine methods to vitrify some of the tank waste stored at
the Hanford Nuclear Reservation prior to the completion of the
entire vitrification complex;
  (B) Demonstrate how continued, indefinite storage of waste in
tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation will not harm the public
and the environment;
  (C) Expedite efforts to protect the Columbia River, including
cleanup of contaminated ground water that may threaten the
Columbia River, the species that rely on the river and the people
who live downstream from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation;
  (D) Act expeditiously on plans to remove plutonium from the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation to an off-site location;
  (E) Work closely with Pacific Northwest officials and residents
to ensure success of cleanup and waste management efforts; and
  (F) Provide the State of Oregon with a decision-making role in
matters affecting the handling, storing and cleanup of
radioactive and chemical wastes at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation, including a role in the Hanford Tri-Party Agreement
or any successor thereto.
  (2) A copy of this memorial shall be sent to each member of the
Oregon Congressional Delegation and the Washington Congressional
Delegation, the United States Secretary of the Interior, the
United States Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency.
                         ----------
 
 
 
                                 Adopted by Senate February 19,
                                              2007
 
                               ----------------------------------
                                       Secretary of Senate
 
                               ----------------------------------
                                       President of Senate
 
 
                                 Adopted by House March 21, 2007
 
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                                        Speaker of House
 
 
 
 
 
 
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