State officials, tribal and labor leaders warn DOE against pausing Hanford waste treatment; say they will seek court enforcement

TRI-CITIES, Wash. — State officials, tribal leaders and union representatives gathered in the Tri-Cities to press the federal government to go forward with the startup of Hanford's waste treatment plant, saying any pause would breach an existing federal court order and threaten jobs and public health.

David Replug, vice president for federal programs at the Tri City Development Council (TRIDEC) and executive director of Hanford Communities, told the crowd that Hanford cleanup "is critically important to the Tri City community" and noted the scale of the challenge: 56,000,000 gallons of tank waste stored in 177 tanks, some of them more than 80 years old. He said the Direct Feed Low Activity Waste Facility is scheduled to begin treating low-activity tank waste within weeks and that "time is our common enemy." Replug thanked U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell and Rep. Dan Newhouse for working with state leaders on the issue.

The governor (unnamed in the transcript) said the state is prepared to hold the federal government accountable if the Department of Energy (DOE) chooses not to proceed. Summarizing a week of developments, the governor cited the firing of Roger Jarrell, the acting head of DOE's Office of Environmental Management, inconsistent public statements from the administration and, he said, a private conversation in which the DOE secretary "made it clear" to Sen. Murray that the department intended to "pull the plug." The governor said the state would not file a new complaint but would move to enforce an existing consent decree before Judge Bastian if DOE failed to meet its obligations, adding, "There is 0 chance we are backing down on this."

Casey Sixkiller, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology, addressed technical readiness and safety. Sixkiller said the plant's hot commissioning would for the first time turn Hanford's radioactive waste into glass, and he told reporters Ecology and the State Department of Health are in the final stages of permitting. "There is no evidence ... of any outstanding safety issues with the waste treatment plant," he said, and he warned that delaying or canceling startup "would not only waste billions of dollars, but also unnecessarily prolong the risk to public health and the environment."

Nick Bumpus, business manager for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 598 and former president of the Central Washington Building Trades, framed the controversy in worker terms. He called suggestions of systemic safety problems "ludicrous" and said any decision to back away from the project would be "a disgrace to the sacrifices that we have all made." Bumpus said the project represents decades of investment in a skilled regional workforce.

Reporters pressed the governor on timing and next steps, including whether the state had been consulted by DOE and what would happen if required documentation remained unsigned after an October 15 deadline mentioned during the event. The governor said the state had not held leadership-level talks with DOE about the reported pause, that Senator Murray had taken a lead in Washington, D.C., and that the state would work with the attorney general's office on any enforcement action; he declined to lay out detailed litigation timing but said the state hoped to avoid a lawsuit while keeping it as an available remedy.

Sonia Ablickas, identified as public information officer for the Yakama Nation, asked how a halt would affect tribal partnerships and federal obligations to tribes. The governor stressed tribal partnerships and said honoring those relationships is among the state's reasons for urging DOE to proceed.

The news availability closed with officials offering one-on-one follow-ups and reiterating that the state intends to press DOE to meet the requirements of the existing federal court order.

Next steps: state leaders said they will continue outreach to DOE and federal lawmakers and will prepare to seek enforcement in federal court if DOE does not proceed with startup as scheduled.