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ERDF expansion completed

04.08.2009

RICHLAND, Wash.—Construction of two new waste disposal cells at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility at the Hanford Site has been completed and should be ready to start receiving Hanford cleanup wastes as early as May.

With the addition of cells 7 and 8, capacity of ERDF is now about 11 million tons. More than 8 million tons have already been disposed in ERDF since the facility was built in 1996.

Built two cells at a time, this marks the third time the facility has been expanded. Each pair of cells is 500 feet wide by 1,000 feet long and 70 feet deep, and has a capacity of 2.8 million tons. At the base, the eight cells take up the same area as nearly 35 football fields.

Most of the wastes disposed in the facility to date have been cleanup wastes that have come from past plutonium production facilities located near the Columbia River in the Hanford’s 100 and 300 areas. ERDF is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is authorized to accept Hanford cleanup wastes only. Non-Hanford wastes are not accepted.

“The Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility is critical to our cleanup efforts at Hanford and along the River Corridor,” said Bruce Covert, director of Waste Operations for Washington Closure Hanford, which operates the facility for DOE as part of the $2.2 billion River Corridor Closure Project.

“We dispose of an average of 250 containers of waste a day. Each container holds about 20 tons. Our target this year is to dispose of nearly one million tons, and we’ll drive about a million miles doing so. Almost all cleanup waste generated at Hanford comes to our landfill, making ERDF progress an excellent gauge of Hanford progress,” said Covert.

The eight million tons of contaminated material already disposed in the facility represents cleanup of more than 80 percent of the estimated 10 million tons of contaminated material located in Hanford’s 218-square-mile River Corridor, including demolition debris from five of Hanford’s nine former plutonium production reactors.

“This can be hazardous work, so I’m pleased that we’ve never had a lost work day in our 13 years of operation,” said Covert. “And our drivers have logged over 13 million miles with only one at-fault accident.”

Construction of the two new cells started a year ago and were built by DelHur Industries of Hermiston, Oregon, under subcontract to Washington Closure. Envirotech Engineering & Consulting of Enid, Oklahoma, provided independent quality assurance services for the expansion work.

Although the facility was originally designed for 28 cells, new cells are built only when needed, and it takes about three years to authorize, design and construct new cells. Work is expected to begin soon on the next expansion so it is ready for use when cells 7 and 8 reach capacity in 2-3 years.

A public comment period regarding the next expansion, as well as proposed design changes to take advantage of new technology, is expected to begin April 20. Additional information about the public comment period is available at http://www.hanford.gov. Follow the links for public involvement activities.