NRA says grizzly bear hunts needed for safety
The National Rifle Association and a sport hunting group want to ensure their members can hunt grizzly bears in the three-state region around Yellowstone National Park after the animals lost U.S. protections.
The National Rifle Association and a sport hunting group want to ensure their members can hunt grizzly bears in the three-state region around Yellowstone National Park after the animals lost U.S. protections.
Group buys land to prevent break in Pacific Crest Trail
A group dedicated to preserving and promoting the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail has purchased private land in western Washington state to prevent a break in the path.
A group dedicated to preserving and promoting the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail has purchased private land in western Washington state to prevent a break in the path.
Trump administration reverses ban on importing elephants killed as trophies
The Trump administration said it will allow the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport, contending that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill them will aid the vulnerable species.
The Trump administration said it will allow the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport, contending that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill them will aid the vulnerable species.
Hanford workers finish stabilizing collapsed tunnel
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state have finished stabilizing a partially-collapsed tunnel containing radioactive wastes left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday the tunnel was filled with more than 4,400 cubic yards of grout intended to prevent any additional collapse.The tunnel partially collapsed earlier this year, prompting a brief alarm at the site that required some 3,000 workers to shelter in place.
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state have finished stabilizing a partially-collapsed tunnel containing radioactive wastes left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday the tunnel was filled with more than 4,400 cubic yards of grout intended to prevent any additional collapse.The tunnel partially collapsed earlier this year, prompting a brief alarm at the site that required some 3,000 workers to shelter in place.
7 leaks found in Hanford's oldest double-walled tank
RICHLAND, Wash. -- Inspectors at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation have found seven leaks in the site's oldest double-walled radioactive waste storage tank.Tank AY-102 was known since 2012 to have a slow leak from its inner shell into the space between its inner and outer walls.The Tri-City Herald reports that the tank, which once held 744,000 gallons of waste, had been emptied of all but 19,000 gallons by February.Then an inspection was done with video cameras.A manager for the U.S. Department of Energy told the Hanford Advisory Board on Wednesday that a total of seven leaks were found.The Energy Department says no waste is believed to have breached the outer shell to contaminate the environment.Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and the wastes are left over.
RICHLAND, Wash. -- Inspectors at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation have found seven leaks in the site's oldest double-walled radioactive waste storage tank.Tank AY-102 was known since 2012 to have a slow leak from its inner shell into the space between its inner and outer walls.The Tri-City Herald reports that the tank, which once held 744,000 gallons of waste, had been emptied of all but 19,000 gallons by February.Then an inspection was done with video cameras.A manager for the U.S. Department of Energy told the Hanford Advisory Board on Wednesday that a total of seven leaks were found.The Energy Department says no waste is believed to have breached the outer shell to contaminate the environment.Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and the wastes are left over.
Decades-long study on West Coast seabirds reveals an alarming trend
Barbara Patton scans the expansive beach on Washington's outer coast looking for telltale signs of dead seabirds: a feather sticking straight up, dark colors in the sand, unusual seaweed clumps that could mask a carcass.
Barbara Patton scans the expansive beach on Washington's outer coast looking for telltale signs of dead seabirds: a feather sticking straight up, dark colors in the sand, unusual seaweed clumps that could mask a carcass.
Fries sold at CenturyLink Sunday came from potatoes fertilized with food scraps from the stadium
Fans at Sunday's Seahawks game may not have known, but the french fries they ordered during the game, weren't ordinary fries.
Fans at Sunday's Seahawks game may not have known, but the french fries they ordered during the game, weren't ordinary fries.
World mayors pledge emissions-free cities by 2030
The mayors of London, Los Angeles, Paris and several other major world cities are pledging to ban gasoline and diesel vehicles from "large parts" of their cities by 2030.
The mayors of London, Los Angeles, Paris and several other major world cities are pledging to ban gasoline and diesel vehicles from "large parts" of their cities by 2030.
Former Hanford manager gets $8M jury award for retaliation
RICHLAND, Wash. -- A former manager at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has been awarded $8.1 million for retaliation and discrimination.A Benton County Superior Court jury made the award Tuesday to Julie Atwood, who was forced to resign from U.S. Department of Energy contractor Mission Support Alliance in 2013.The Tri-City Herald reported that Atwood filed a civil lawsuit against the contractor and one of its vice presidents, Steve Young, who also is the mayor of Kennewick.The jury found that Mission Support Alliance retaliated and discriminated against Atwood, and that Young aided and abetted.The verdict includes $2.1 million in lost wages and benefits.
RICHLAND, Wash. -- A former manager at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has been awarded $8.1 million for retaliation and discrimination.A Benton County Superior Court jury made the award Tuesday to Julie Atwood, who was forced to resign from U.S. Department of Energy contractor Mission Support Alliance in 2013.The Tri-City Herald reported that Atwood filed a civil lawsuit against the contractor and one of its vice presidents, Steve Young, who also is the mayor of Kennewick.The jury found that Mission Support Alliance retaliated and discriminated against Atwood, and that Young aided and abetted.The verdict includes $2.1 million in lost wages and benefits.
Crews start injecting grout into collapsed Hanford tunnel
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation have started injecting grout into a partially collapsed tunnel that contains radioactive wastes left over from the production of nuclear weapons.The grout is intended to improve the stability of the 360-foot-long tunnel, which dates to 1956, and help prevent any radioactivity from escaping into the environment.The U.S. Department of Energy said it will take an estimated 650 truckloads of grout to fill the tunnel adjacent to the closed Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant, which produced most of the plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal.
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation have started injecting grout into a partially collapsed tunnel that contains radioactive wastes left over from the production of nuclear weapons.The grout is intended to improve the stability of the 360-foot-long tunnel, which dates to 1956, and help prevent any radioactivity from escaping into the environment.The U.S. Department of Energy said it will take an estimated 650 truckloads of grout to fill the tunnel adjacent to the closed Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant, which produced most of the plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal.
Warm waters off West Coast has lingering effects for salmon
Federal research surveys this summer caught among the lowest numbers of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon in 20 years, suggesting that many fish did not survive their first months at sea.
Federal research surveys this summer caught among the lowest numbers of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon in 20 years, suggesting that many fish did not survive their first months at sea.
China wants to ban gas and diesel cars
China's industry ministry is developing a timetable to end production and sale of traditional fuel cars and will promote the development of electric technology, state media on Sunday cited a Cabinet official as saying.
China's industry ministry is developing a timetable to end production and sale of traditional fuel cars and will promote the development of electric technology, state media on Sunday cited a Cabinet official as saying.
Interior Secretary says he won't eliminate any national monuments
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated.
Is your drinking water safe? Here's how you can find out
America’s drinking water infrastructure is aging and in serious need of modernization. A 2017 Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans worry a great deal about drinking water pollution.
America’s drinking water infrastructure is aging and in serious need of modernization. A 2017 Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans worry a great deal about drinking water pollution.
Harsh winter took heavy toll on wildlife across western US
Wildlife managers in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington also reported higher losses of animals in the wake of one of the coldest and snowiest winters in decades.
Wildlife managers in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington also reported higher losses of animals in the wake of one of the coldest and snowiest winters in decades.
Idaho's largest sequoia tree finds new home (video)
More than a century after it was planted as a sapling in a doctor's yard in Boise, Idaho, the 10-story tree was shifted across the street to make way for a hospital expansion.
More than a century after it was planted as a sapling in a doctor's yard in Boise, Idaho, the 10-story tree was shifted across the street to make way for a hospital expansion.
Official says more Hanford nuke mishaps likely
RICHLAND, Wash. -- Future accidental radiation releases at the largest U.S. site of waste from nuclear weapons production are likely following back-to-back emergency evacuations of workers in May and June because aging infrastructure is breaking down, the top Energy Department official at the site told The Associated Press.Adding to the likelihood of more nuclear mishaps at the sprawling Hanford Nuclear Reservation is inadequate government funding to quickly clean up the millions of gallons of toxic nuclear waste at the site, said Doug Shoop, who runs the department's operations office at Hanford.Hanford has an annual budget of $2.3 billion for cleanup but Shoop said it will cost at least $100 billion to clean up the highly toxic radioactive and chemical wastes on the 580-square mile (1,502 square kilometer) site which produced up to 70 percent of the plutonium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal since it was established in World War II."The infrastructure is not going to last long enough for the cleanup," Shoop said in an interview this week. "It will be another 50 years before it is all demolished."Shoop made the comments after hundreds of Hanford workers were evacuated May 9 when the roof of a 1950s rail tunnel storing a lethal mix of waste from plutonium production collapsed.
RICHLAND, Wash. -- Future accidental radiation releases at the largest U.S. site of waste from nuclear weapons production are likely following back-to-back emergency evacuations of workers in May and June because aging infrastructure is breaking down, the top Energy Department official at the site told The Associated Press.Adding to the likelihood of more nuclear mishaps at the sprawling Hanford Nuclear Reservation is inadequate government funding to quickly clean up the millions of gallons of toxic nuclear waste at the site, said Doug Shoop, who runs the department's operations office at Hanford.Hanford has an annual budget of $2.3 billion for cleanup but Shoop said it will cost at least $100 billion to clean up the highly toxic radioactive and chemical wastes on the 580-square mile (1,502 square kilometer) site which produced up to 70 percent of the plutonium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal since it was established in World War II."The infrastructure is not going to last long enough for the cleanup," Shoop said in an interview this week. "It will be another 50 years before it is all demolished."Shoop made the comments after hundreds of Hanford workers were evacuated May 9 when the roof of a 1950s rail tunnel storing a lethal mix of waste from plutonium production collapsed.
Official: More Hanford nuke problems likely following back-to-back emergency evacuations
Future accidental radiation releases at the largest U.S. site of waste from nuclear weapons production are likely following back-to-back emergency evacuations of workers in May and June because aging infrastructure is breaking down, the top Energy Department official at the site told The Associated Press.
Future accidental radiation releases at the largest U.S. site of waste from nuclear weapons production are likely following back-to-back emergency evacuations of workers in May and June because aging infrastructure is breaking down, the top Energy Department official at the site told The Associated Press.
Low levels of contamination detected; Hanford employees take cover
About 350 workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation took cover after radiation warning alarms went off Thursday morning.
About 350 workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation took cover after radiation warning alarms went off Thursday morning.
Olympia officials seeking input on sea level rise response strategy
Olympia city leaders are asking for the public's input on a response plan to protect Downtown Olympia and the Port peninsula from rising sea levels.
Olympia city leaders are asking for the public's input on a response plan to protect Downtown Olympia and the Port peninsula from rising sea levels.