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.


 
 
 
     75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 3202
 
                    Senate Joint Memorial 11
 
Sponsored by Senator DEVLIN, Representative JENSON
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  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.
 
                         JOINT MEMORIAL
To the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United
  States of America, in Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Seventy-fifth Legislative Assembly
of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled,
respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas the maintenance of healthy, unpolluted river systems,
airsheds and land are essential to the economic vitality and
well-being of the citizens of the State of Oregon and the Pacific
Northwest; and
  Whereas the United States Department of Energy's Hanford
Nuclear Reservation is the most contaminated site in North
America; and
  Whereas radioactive waste stored at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation is already leaking into and contaminating the ground
water beneath the Hanford site; and
  Whereas contaminated ground water, which ultimately flows into
the Columbia River, presents a threat to human health and to
sensitive species in the river, including endangered salmon; and
  Whereas Oregon cities currently rely on the Columbia River for
drinking water and other Oregon communities may eventually
exercise their rights to drinking water supplies from the river;
and
  Whereas the environmental cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation is a top priority for Oregonians; and
  Whereas the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, an Oregon tribe, with treaty rights supported by the
State of Oregon that protect resources and access to resources,
are at risk from Hanford operations and cleanup activities; and
  Whereas the United States Department of Energy projects that
cleanup will not be complete at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
until at least 2048; and
  Whereas despite considerable progress with many cleanup
projects at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, significant other
work remains, such as retrieval of buried wastes, the safe
disposition of sludge from Hanford's K Basins and demolition of
the plutonium finishing plant; and
  Whereas the United States Department of Energy is constructing
a massive complex of treatment facilities to vitrify the 53
million gallons of 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 this waste is stored in aging underground storage
tanks, many of which have leaked; and
  Whereas significant delays with the vitrification project will
likely result in treatment facilities not being available until
2019; and
  Whereas the risk of leaks from Hanford's underground storage
tanks will increase because of these delays; and
  Whereas funding shortages are expected to cause increasing
numbers of regulatory milestones to be missed; 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,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  (1) The Congress of the United States is respectfully urged to:
  (a) Provide stable and sufficient funding for the cleanup
effort at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, including the
construction of the vitrification facilities and other needed
cleanup and waste management efforts, to ensure the health and
safety of Oregonians and the health of the Columbia River; and
  (b) Direct the United States Department of Energy to do the
following:
  (A) Expedite efforts to protect the Columbia River, including
cleanup of contaminated ground water that may threaten the
Columbia River;
  (B) Work closely with Pacific Northwest officials and residents
to ensure success of cleanup and waste management efforts; and
  (C) Provide the State of Oregon with a decision-making role in
matters affecting the handling, storage 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.
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