Washington attorney general Christine Gregoire threatened legal action should the US federal government break its promise to begin construction by July, 2001 on a facility at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation for converting liquid radioactive waste into glass for safe storage during the thousands of years it will remain radioactive. Reported cuts in the Dept of Energy budget will leave the DOE several hundred million dollars short of its Hanford obligation. Under an agreement signed in 1989, Washington state has the right to sue the federal government to force compliance with the Hanford cleanup timetable. While DOE has issued a contract for the work, it has not completed the design of the facility & is unlikely to start construction on time with this budget scenario. Of urgent concern are the 53m gallons of high-level radioactive waste stored in underground tanks.
