News Releases | Newsroom

River Corridor Closure Project team reaches 2 million safe hours

11.03.2010

RICHLAND, Wash.—River Corridor Closure Project employees and subcontractors recently reached 2 million hours without a lost workday accident.

The River Corridor Closure Project team includes 900 Washington Closure Hanford and Eberline Services Hanford employees, as well as about 400 subcontractor employees.

The team is responsible for protecting the Columbia River by demolishing 486 contaminated buildings, cleaning up 396 waste sites and burial grounds, placing two reactors and one nuclear facility in interim safe storage and operating the disposal facility for Hanford cleanup wastes.

“From the beginning, we’ve said a safe project is a well-run project,” said Washington Closure Safety Director Emily Millikin. “The number of safe hours worked is not the only measure of a safely and well-run project, but it is certainly a very important one.

“This milestone is a measure of the focus and dedication our workforce has for conducting the work safely. From improvements in doing elevated work to working around hazardous substances, such as beryllium, we’re always looking for ways to make the business of Hanford cleanup safer for our workers, the public and the environment,” Millikin said.

Washington Closure is more than halfway through the 10-year, $2.4 billion River Corridor Closure Project. “This has been our busiest year by far, as evidenced by the record amounts of waste disposed at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility,” said Millikin. “However, we expect next year to be even busier, and a continued focus on safety will be critical to staying on schedule and within budget.”

Washington Closure is a limited liability company owned by URS, Bechtel National and CH2M Hill. The company operates the River Corridor Closure Project, the country’s largest environmental cleanup closure project, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office.

# # #