Buddy Cunningham, a construction project manager with CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company, checks equipment at the Hanford Site’s recently expanded groundwater extraction system.
Buddy Cunningham, a construction project manager with CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company, checks equipment at the Hanford Site’s recently expanded groundwater extraction system.

RICHLAND, Wash. – A recent expansion of the Hanford Site’s groundwater extraction system allows EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) to more efficiently remove, transfer, and treat contaminated groundwater.

   The expansion involves connecting a third extraction well to a cross-site transfer line and pumping station in the central part of the Hanford Site, improving the ability to remove contaminated groundwater in this area. The connection to a third well completes an expansion project that began in 2017, and nearby monitoring wells will help track the performance of the remediation effort.

   “We continuously look for ways to improve groundwater cleanup methods at Hanford,” RL Soil and Groundwater Federal Project Director Mike Cline said. “The success of this project is another positive step toward our goal of removing contaminants and reducing the threat to the Columbia River.”

An expanded groundwater remediation system in the central part of the Hanford Site connects extraction wells to an existing pipeline and pumping station to more efficiently remove, transfer, and treat contaminated groundwater.
An expanded groundwater remediation system in the central part of the Hanford Site connects extraction wells to an existing pipeline and pumping station to more efficiently remove, transfer, and treat contaminated groundwater.

   About 7 million gallons of contaminated groundwater are extracted monthly from the wells and transferred about 5 miles via an aboveground pipeline to the 200 West Pump and Treat facility. The project removes contaminants from past plutonium production, like uranium, technetium-99, cyanide, and nitrate.

   Together with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington state Department of Ecology, RL selected the pump-and–treat method as a suitable remedy for addressing uranium and technetium-99 in groundwater.

   “This expansion significantly improves performance of our extensive groundwater treatment network,” said Bill Barrett, CHPRC’s vice president for the soil and groundwater remediation project. “Using existing infrastructure provides a safe, efficient, and cost-effective method to treat additional groundwater from across the Hanford Site and ultimately better protect our environment.”

   Over the past several years, RL has been expanding its systems for treating groundwater in a 10-square-mile area in the center of the site, called the Central Plateau.

   RL began operating its largest treatment system at Hanford in the western portion of the plateau, known as the 200 West Area, in 2012. In the last few years, RL has been expanding the system to also remove contamination from the eastern area of the plateau, known as the 200 East Area.

   Plutonium production operations from the 1940s through the 1980s contaminated large areas of groundwater with radioactive waste and hazardous chemicals. The goal is to contain contamination and keep it from flowing to the Columbia River, located a few miles away.