Officials: Stay the course on Hanford vapors until study done

Annette Cary Tri-City Herald

RICHLAND, Wash. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee supports the Hanford tank farm approach of allowing workers to opt for increased levels of personal protection such as different respirators to guard against chemical vapors until a new independent assessment is completed.

Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sent a letter on Hanford vapor issues Friday to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. That was followed by an announcement Monday of the team picked by Savannah River National Laboratory to perform the assessment.

The repeated complaints from workers about exposure to tank vapors that may be causing harm requires a comprehensive response, the letter said.

This spring about 37 Hanford workers have received medical evaluations after either reporting a suspicious odor or in some cases developing symptoms consistent with exposure to chemical vapors. All were cleared to return to work, but workers are concerned about developing serious health issues long-term from chemical exposure.

Workers sometimes report a smell of ammonia, which is one of the chemicals in the head space of underground tanks.

Washington River Protection Solutions, the Department of Energy contractor at the tank farms, requires a minimum of half-face respirators when there is an increased risk for tank vapors.

Those include when waste is being disturbed, such as when waste is pumped from a tank or transferred between tanks, or when workers will be in an area where suspicious odors have been reported in the past.

Workers can instead opt for a full-face respirator or a supplied-air respirator, according to the contractor.

There was one instance about a year ago when a request for a supplied-air respirator was denied and that worker was reassigned to other tank farm work, said contractor spokesman John Britton. Washington River Protection Solutions concluded that it would be unsafe for the electrician to have a steel tank on his back while working in a confined area with high-voltage electricity.

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Officials: Stay the course on Hanford vapors until study done