Perhaps spurred on by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's suit that will be filed against  the Department of Energy and contractors, a group representing tank farm workers also plans legal action.

Thursday, United Association Local 598,  Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Hanford Challenge announced they will also sue Washington River Protection Services and the Department of Energy.

The union represents plumbers and steamfitters, and includes workers who are employed at the tank farms at Hanford.

According to the union's business manager, Pete Nicacio,  Hanford officials have not put enough monitoring equipment in place, and don't have enough people to do proper monitoring of potentially hazardous vapors coming from the tanks.

The 162 tanks at Hanford store the leftover radioactive and chemical waste from as far back as the Manhattan Project, which built one of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan, up through the N Reactor's weapons grade plutonium.  They also house various other wastes from other reactors.

WA AG Bob Ferguson's suit alleges workers have been getting sick from the vapors as far back as 1987.   Most recently, numerous workers were sickened by vapors in June of this year.

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