Our Voice: Welcome Rick Perry, we’ve some things to show you
To Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry:
Welcome to the Tri-Cities — we are pleased you could visit.
From the itinerary we received, you will start today by touring our community gem — the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory — and end your day touring what’s considered to be the nation’s most toxic quagmire — the Hanford nuclear site.
Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse and Democrat Sen. Maria Cantwell, both from Washington, are scheduled to join you during your trip.
Perhaps during the tour they and key Tri-City leaders can help convince you of the critical work being done at PNNL and the Hanford site, and how imperative it is that DOE funding is not slashed — as was recommended by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Last May, the president’s team proposed cutting $3.5 billion from DOE’s budget for the next fiscal year. A month later, we understand you defended those cuts at a Congressional hearing.
Since then, both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate have produced budgets much more favorable to PNNL and the cleanup mission at Hanford.
The House approved a package of appropriation bills before members left for the summer recess. It added $54 million to the Trump administration’s proposal, which is helpful, but still leaves Hanford spending next year about $60 million below the current spending of about $2.4 billion.
Proposed cuts to PNNL and Hanford cleanup were significantly restored by the Senate Appropriations Committee, however, thanks in large part because of the efforts of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
The Senate version adds $196 million to the budget the Trump administration had proposed for the nuclear reservation, and would increase it to close to $2.5 billion for the next fiscal year, if money for security and cybersecurity is included — which we believe it should be.
The Senate budget also helps protects key research programs at PNNL. If those numbers hold, the money would save hundreds of jobs the community thought might be lost.
A conference committee will reconcile the House and Senate numbers. We, of course, prefer they end up closer to the Senate proposal. It would be terrific if you did as well.
The scare we had last May when a tunnel used to enclose radioactive materials left from the Cold War unexpectedly collapsed in central Hanford was a shocking reminder that we live very close to potential disaster.
Fortunately, no workers were hurt or are known to be contaminated, and efforts have been made to contain the breached tunnel.
In the wake of the panic that ensued from the tunnel collapse, we thought the Trump administration would see the crucial need to keep waste cleanup funding as level as possible. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed when the opposite turned out to be true.
It has since been discovered that there is another, longer tunnel at serious risk of a cave-in, and it is being monitored. There also are 56 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks in central Hanford, the majority of them single-shell tanks prone to leaking.
The Hanford site is dangerous. Washington state was there for the entire country when it produced the plutonium used during World War II. Now, we need the federal government’s help to clean up the toxic waste left behind.
Mr. Perry, we are pleased you decided to visit. We need your support, which by the way, you pledged during your confirmation hearing.
Please keep that pledge and fight for continued research at PNNL and for Hanford cleanup money the way our Congressional representatives do.
This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Welcome Rick Perry, we’ve some things to show you."