Email $tatt3 .%rnatt WASHINGTON, DC 20510 December 22, 2017 The Honorable James M. Owendoff Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Of?ce of Environmental Management US. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue SW. Washington, DC. 20585 Dear Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Owendoff: We write with grave concern over the recent events at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the State of Washington, including the elevated radiation levels detected by air samplers worn by workers and the spread of radiological contamination outside radiological control boundaries. These events come after the radiological control boundaries around PFP were expanded and additional safety controls were instituted following a Continuous Air Monitor alarm on June 8, 2017, detecting radiological contamination outside the PF boundaries. We urge you to take immediate action to protect the health and safety of the Hanford workforce, the Tri-Cities community, and Washington state. We understand the US. Department of Energy (DOE) has directed its contractor, CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company, to cease all demolition activities and that the only permitted work at this time is radiological surveys and contamination control efforts. We agree with this stop work order and encourage you not to allow demolition to continue until all facts from the past two weeks are known, fully understood, and communicated to the workforce and public, and all corrective actions and safety precautions are in place to protect the health and safety of workers, the environment, and the public. We must also understand the actions Richland Operations Of?ce (RL) did or did not take with respect to conducting oversight of PF demolition activities. Further, we ask that you directly engage with the local unions, who play an important role in ensuring the safety and health of the Hanford workforce. DOE awarded CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company a cost-plus award-fee contract for nuclear waste cleanup of the Central Plateau at Hanford in June 2008 and exercised the ?ve-year option period extending the contract through September 30, 2018. In November 2016, CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company began demolition of the main PFP buildings under oversight, a high hazard and risk activity. In addition to PFP, CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company is the prime contractor on several other high hazard and risk activities at Hanford including the removal of 27 cubic meters of radioactively contaminated sludge from the West Basin near the Columbia River to Plant for temporary storage; the remediation of the highly radioactive 300-296 waste site located underneath the 324 Building in the 300 Area near the Columbia River and City of Richland; and the interim stabilization of PUREX Storage Tunnel 2 which contains 2,883 cubic yards of waste in 28 rail cars. The workforce must have con?dence that DOE and CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company are putting safety ahead of milestones, deadlines, and award fees. We owe the men and women who work at PFP and across the Hanford site in hazardous conditions with some of the most dangerous radioactive and chemical materials the highest safety standards. We appreciate the actions you have already taken, and we urge you to take all steps necessary to not only improve the working conditions for workers at PFP today, but also ensure safe working conditions on the West Basin, 300-296 waste site, and other projects within CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company?s contract. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, f?F a a Patty Mdrray Maria Cantwell United States Senator United States Senator cc: Mr. Doug Shoop, Manager, Richland Operations Office, US. Department of Energy Mr. Ty Blackford, President and Project Manager, CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company