Washington state has decided to sue the federal government over its slow cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, arguing that the window is closing to safely remove Hanford's 53 million gallons of radioactive waste from storage tanks before they leak.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire announced today that the state would sue the Department of Energy, breaking an agreement between the state, the federal agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed in 1989.



The waste stored in 177 tanks at the former weapons production site poses "dire consequences" for the Columbia River, the state's lawsuit notice said, with at least 67 single-wall tanks already leaking.



But the Department of Energy and its contractors have consistently missed deadlines, Washington state charges, and the agency's schedule calls for completing cleanup by 2047 at best. The state says it has "serious doubts" about the Department of Energy's ability to deliver if it "continues on its path of poor planning, poor management and failure to seek sufficient funding to keep the project on track."



"On Energy's present course," the state said, "it is inevitable that additional tanks will leak."



In a statement, the U.S. Department of Energy said it is making significant progress at the site and is "disappointed" by the lawsuit.



Gerry Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a Hanford watchdog group, said contamination from Hanford is spreading faster than projected, and the federal government is considering plans to bring in other radioactive waste for storage even as the cleanup lags.



"I'm thrilled to see the governor take the same view that thousands of citizens have taken in public meetings over the last few years," Pollet said.



The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan project to build the atomic bomb. Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site.



Bechtel National, a Department of Energy contractor, is building a vitrification plant that will convert radioactive waste into glasslike logs for disposal underground. Bechtel took over the struggling project in 2000.



Since then, the cost has ballooned from $4.3 billion to $12.2 billion, and the startup date has been pushed from 2011 to 2019, with treatment of wastes due to be completed by 2047. But Washington state says it could take until 2079 to finish the job.



Removal of waste from 149 leak-prone single-wall tanks has also been delayed, the state says. Leaking tanks have already released at least 1 million gallons of waste, some of which has seeped into the river. And the spilled radioactive waste will persist in the environment for tens of thousands of years.



Scott Learn: 503-294-7657; scottlearn@news.oregonian.com