Voters approve limit on Hanford nuclear waste
Voters overwhelmingly approved an initiative to limit the amount of nuclear waste at the Hanford nuclear site, but opponents argued the measure's future remains in doubt.
"Legal challenges are inevitable," said Grant Nelson, government affairs director for the Association of Washington Business. The measure is scheduled to take effect in 30 days.
Initiative 297 blocks the U.S. Department of Energy from sending more waste to the Hanford nuclear site until all the existing waste there is cleaned up.
By a more than 2-to-1 margin, voters overwhelmingly approved the initiative. With 97 percent of precincts reporting statewide early Wednesday, 69 percent of voters approved, with just 31 percent voting against it.
"It's clear that the rule of the people of the state of Washington is that Hanford needs to be cleaned up before more waste can be dumped there," said Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a Seattle-based Hanford watchdog group and the initiative's sponsor.
The 586-square-mile reservation in south-central Washington, which was created in World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb, remains the most contaminated site in the nation.
Supporters called the initiative a no-brainer: Don't add more waste until the existing waste is cleaned up. Opponents feared that barring waste shipments to Hanford could backfire if other states take similar steps to ban Hanford waste.
The Energy Department took no official position on the initiative. Agency spokeswoman Colleen French said the Energy Department would be studying the initiative and evaluating its options over the next 30 days.
Continue reading this story from KOMO 4 News:
Future Of Hanford Initiative In Doubt Despite Voters' Approval
