New Washington state board looks into health needs of 10,000 Hanford workers

A new Washington state board has started looking at the unmet health care needs of more than 10,000 workers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford nuclear reservation.

The Washington state Department of Commerce was given $250,000 in state funds to administer the work of the board, as directed in legislation that also made it easier for ill workers to get state worker compensation claims approved.

The board will develop recommendations on how health care needs can be met and develop indicators of progress in meeting needs.

It will review studies on how to prevent worker exposure to chemical vapors associated with 56 million gallons of radioactive and other hazardous waste in underground tanks at the site.

Recommendations are due to the Legislature by June 1, 2021.

The board includes representatives of Hanford unions, the state Department of Health, the state Department of Labor and Industries, Harborview Medical Center, the University of Washington and the Hanford HAMMER training center.

The public can watch monthly virtual meetings of the board and make comments. More information is posted at bit.ly/HanfordHealthBoard.

Hanford in Eastern Washington produced plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War and now workers are cleaning up extensive radioactive and chemical contamination and waste left from the work.