Tri-City Herald

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability gave the Department of Energy a failing grade Monday for its budget proposals for environmental cleanup at Hanford and other nuclear sites. The alliance, which includes Heart of America Northwest, held a news conference in Washington, D.C.

“DOE is simply not up to the task of running the nation’s largest cleanup program,” Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America, said in a statement.

DOE’s budget request for cleanup at Hanford and other sites is $1.5 billion short of meeting environmental obligations and will result in greater risk to water, worker safety and public health, he said.

DOE sets a budget amount and then gives its request to Congress, which sets the annual budget.