State accuses feds of withholding Hanford safety data. The fine could top $1 million

A legal deadline that is in dispute at the Hanford nuclear reservation could leave the federal government open to a fine that could top $1 million.

The Washington state Department of Ecology, a Hanford regulator, says the Department of Energy is making it too difficult to get information about the Hanford site, one of the issues covered in the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement.

Ecology depends on the information to write permits that allow DOE to operate at Hanford and ensure it meets standards set by the state, and also to conduct inspections of projects and areas with much of Hanford’s waste.

“Ecology inspectors and permit writers need timely information to do their jobs,” said John Price, the Washington state Department of Ecology’s Tri-Party Agreement section manager.

The Washington state Department of Ecology says DOE has failed to meet a March 31 deadline in the Tri-Party Agreement related to policies for sharing Hanford information.

The state already has extended the deadline four times.

It wants to have quick access to information such as piping diagrams, tank inspection reports, problem evaluation reports and safety procedures.

“Access to the data allows both us and the DOE to be good stewards of (taxpayer) resources,” said Ecology spokesman Randy Bradbury. “Without that access we are both wasting time and money.”

Missing deadlines can lead to fines, with the state allowed to fine DOE $15,000 for the first week of the missed deadline and then $30,000 for each week after, said Price.

Ecology believes it has missed one Tri-Party Agreement deadline and is out of compliance with two other sections of the agreement, allowing Ecology to triple the usual $10,000 fine to $30,000 a week.

No fine has been issued yet.

Ecology wants immediate answers

DOE said in a document sent to Ecology officials that information access changes wanted by the state “would grant Ecology not just a peek into DOE’s playbook, but ongoing access to DOE’s playbook.”

DOE is spending about $2.5 billion a year on environmental cleanup at Hanford after the Eastern Washington site was used to produce plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War.

Every two years the Tri-Party Agreement calls for DOE and its regulators, the state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to consider the access needed by regulators to Hanford data and information.

If more information or access is needed, DOE is required to propose a schedule for improvement by a deadline, which was March 31, 2019, for the 2018 assessment of data needs.

The Department of Ecology said it needs access to more electronic documents that many DOE employees and its contractor employees can routinely see.

Ecology officials also said they need a way to electronically search the information in DOE’s main records repository, the Integrated Document Management System, according to state documents.

“We should go out on site and a contractor should pull up information immediately instead of sending paper copies weeks or months later,” Price said.

In some cases Ecology employees are not sure what documents to ask for because they are not provided the electronic tools to search for what information is available, he said.

Hanford information legal restrictions

DOE declined to provide the access and instead closed out the related Tri-Party Agreement section as completed, without the concurrence of EPA or Ecology.

“Despite multiple efforts and various approaches, the agency managers were unable to come to agreement on what information Ecology has a legal right to access,” DOE said in a formal statement of dispute issued in September.

DOE and Ecology officials disagree on what documents the Tri-Party Agreement gives the state the right to see.

DOE noted in its statement of dispute a short list of documents listed in a Tri-Party Agreement appendix as available to Ecology.

Ecology argues that the Tri-Party Agreement give it the right to direct access to all relevant data and electronic databases.

“Granting Ecology unfettered access to any database it independently identifies would upset the balance of the TPA as a whole,” DOE said in a statement.

The Tri-Party Agreement requires any information access changes to be negotiated and approved, meaning that all parties have to agree, the DOE document said.

“We will continue to provide appropriate access to information in a way that allows us to continue to adhere to federal laws and requirements for protecting certain types of information in our data systems,” DOE said in a statement Friday.

DOE has federal legal requirements that prohibit it from releasing information without checking to make sure it has no personally identifiable information, information that is proprietary to businesses, security sensitive information or procurement sensitive information.

Appeal expected in dispute

“DOE’s actions contradict their words,” Price said. “They have told us it is important to be transparent. At the same time they are withholding information.”

DOE complains that Ecology officials are not doing work fast enough, but withholds the information Ecology needs to be timely, he said.

Ecology officials notified DOE this summer that it considered the milestone missed.

Then last week it issued a “final determination” in the dispute, saying the Tri-Party Agreement gives it the final say when the three parties cannot reach agreement.

The final determination document says DOE has not met Tri-Party Agreement requirements.

The state gave DOE 30 days to provide electronic access to DOE’s main database for 16 categories of data.

Price said DOE has indicated it will appeal the state’s determination.

Tri-Party Agreement appeals may be made to the Washington state Pollution Control Hearings Board, Benton County Superior Court or federal court.