"Department of Energy Agrees To Hanford Cleanup Deadline"

"The Department of Energy and Washington State Department of Ecology have reached agreement on a consent decree that sets new court-enforced deadlines for emptying Hanford tanks of radioactive waste and treating the waste.

They jointly filed a motion Wednesday in U.S. District Court, which will become final when it is approved and entered by a federal judge. The decree gives DOE more time for important and difficult environmental cleanup work at Hanford but also requires DOE to answer directly to the court if it misses new deadlines.

The consent decree represents the beginning of a new level of accountability for the federal government for Hanford nuclear reservation cleanup over the next 40 years, said Rob McKenna, Washington state attorney general, in a statement."

Annette Cary reports for the Tri-City Herald October 7, 2010.