Thirty Years of ERDF: How Hanford’s Engineered Landfill Supports Cleanup
ERDF workers transport cleanup waste for permanent disposal at the Hanford Site. Since 1996, crews have logged more than 30 million safe miles moving more than 19 million tons of waste. Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management. For 30 years, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) has played an […]
A New Approach to Hanford Cleanup Planning: What It Means for the Tri-Cities
DOE and its regulatory partners have adopted a new approach to Hanford cleanup planning, with near-term enforceable milestones and regular schedule reviews designed to better reflect current conditions and available resources.
Moving Hanford’s Radioactive Capsules Toward Dry Storage
A concrete cask filled with radioactive capsules is placed on an interim dry storage pad near the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility at the Hanford Site. Photo courtesy of Central Plateau Cleanup Company / U.S. Department of Energy. Some of Hanford’s most important cleanup progress happens through steady, carefully planned work that reduces long-term risk […]
What the FY26 Federal Budget Means for Hanford Site Cleanup
On Friday, May 30th, the White House released the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Budget Request, along with the Department of Energy’s Budget in Brief. These documents provide the first public insight into how federal funds might be allocated for the Hanford Site in the year ahead. As always, this request marks the beginning, not […]
The $589 Billion Hanford Cleanup and 2086 Deadline Aren’t Sustainable. Here’s What Needs to Change
Every few years, we get a new snapshot of where things stand with Hanford cleanup—what’s been done, what’s left to do, how long it’s going to take, and how much it’s going to cost. The latest update is in: the Department of Energy’s 2025 Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule, and Cost Report is out, and well… […]
CERCLA versus RCRA
This interview is part of The Role of the Regulators, an ongoing series presented by Hanford Communities. In this series, we speak with key regulatory agencies involved in the Hanford cleanup. In this installment, we hear from the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program Manager, Stephanie Schleif, about their role in overseeing and […]
EPA’s Role in Hanford: Overcoming Challenges and Celebrating Achievements
As part of our “Role of the Regulators” series, Hanford Communities engaged with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss their regulatory role at the Hanford Site. Here’s what they shared. 1. Please introduce yourself, your current role, and how long you’ve been in your current role. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s role at Hanford […]
Navigating Nuclear Legacy: Insights from Stephanie Schleif on Hanford Site Cleanup and the Role of the Department of Ecology
Introduction and Historical Context 1. Please introduce yourself, your role, and how long you’ve been in your current role. My name is Stephanie Schleif, I am the Nuclear Waste Program Manager for Washington State Department of Ecology. I have been with the program and Ecology for almost 11 years and have been the Program Manager […]
The Tri-Party Agreement: A Framework for Hanford Cleanup
After plutonium production ended at Hanford there was a great deal of uncertainty about the path forward for the Site, including the plan for cleanup. On May 15, 1989, the plan began to take shape when the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington State Department of Ecology came together […]
As ‘Cleanup to Clean Energy’ initiative moves forward, local community’s voice must be heard
Recent congressional hearings highlight community-led vision for the future of post-cleanup Hanford lands, as well as concerns with the Department of Energy’s current approach In the months since the Department of Energy announced the Cleanup to Clean Energy (C2CE) initiative in the summer of 2023, a coalition including Energy Forward Alliance (EFA) and TRIDEC, in […]