What is it? Initiative 297 would establish new state regulations for cleaning up nuclear, chemical and other hazardous wastes at the federally managed Hanford nuclear reservation. Though current federal plans call for shipping 20,000 cubic meters of mixed low-level wastes from other sites to Hanford, I-297 would prohibit any such shipments until the Hanford clean-up meets state environmental laws.

What would it do? The measure targets the 586-square mile Hanford site in Eastern Washington, which was established in the 1940s to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons and now is among the most polluted sites in North America.

The state already has an oversight role in the Hanford clean-up, and has clashed with federal officials over the scope of that effort. The current clean-up plan calls for safer storage of 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes, and the retrieval and safe management of 75,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive wastes. Most of that waste is scheduled to be shipped out of state for final storage.

Initiative 297 includes new standards for cleanup and granting permits, and a ban on waste disposal in unlined soil trenches. It would require the retrieval of all buried waste drums, and full clean-up of tanks that leak into the soil. Current plans could leave some residues in those tanks

The initiative would levy service charges on waste facilities to help fund state oversight, provide for citizen oversight of the clean up, and authorize citizen lawsuits to help enforce regulations.

The measure would not grant state permits to dispose of waste imported from other sites until Hanford has fully complied with environmental laws.

Who supports it? The initiative executive committee is chaired by Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a Hanford watchdog group.

Initiative backers say the Hanford clean-up has repeatedly been behind schedule and over budget, and failed to get a handle on serious waste problems. They say the initiative is based on a simple concept: "Before you move on to the next project, clean up the mess you made in the last one."

Who opposes it? Critics include the Tri-City Industrial Development Council, which works on economic development issues in the Kennewick, Pasco and Richland area. Opponents say the measure would likely be contested in court, which could slow the clean up rather than hasten it. If the measure survived in court, opponents say other states may pass similar laws to prevent waste shipments to their federal sites. Such laws, opponents say, could block the planned shipment of Hanford wastes to final storage sites in Nevada and New Mexico.

More information:

• To read the initiative: www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/signatures.aspx

• Supporters: www.YesonI-297.org or (206) 315-0505

• Opponents: Tri-City Industrial Development Council, (509) 735-1000