Editorial
Hanford's tanks of trouble

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Add another agency report that shows more could be done to protect workers' health at Hanford's waste-tank farms.

And add another reason why Congress should establish outside oversight of nuclear workplace safety. Currently, the Department or Energy polices itself and its contractors at Hanford and other sites. Friday, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health became the third agency to issue a report affirming tank-farm workers may have been exposed to toxic vapors at health-compromising levels. About 53 million gallons of radioactive waste are stored in 177 underground tanks.

Part of the Centers for Disease Control, the institute in 2000 made recommendations for how the Energy Department should improve its data collection and analysis so effects on workers at nuclear sites could be better understood. Friday's report noted the recommendations had not been implemented, creating a gap in information that will require more medical monitoring.

The Energy Department and the tank-farm contractor, CH2M Hill, say they already have made many of the changes recommended in the latest report. Last month, the contractor announced the hiring of a new environmental health director at Hanford and a new ombudsman. It would also bring in a panel of experts to evaluate and strengthen its current monitoring system.

These are good moves, but outside oversight might have prevented the exposures in the first place.

The Government Accountability Project, which first publicized the concerns last fall, has called for the Energy Department to put the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in charge of worker safety. OSHA might not have the expertise required for this specialized and uncommon work, but the group is on to something.

Clearly, something went awry at the tank farms, which are the responsibility of the Department of Energy.

Congress should put someone else in charge of monitoring worker safety at Hanford and other nuclear sites.