CH2M HILL's Waste Management

Super Box

CH2M HILL’s Super Box, was designed to transport, via ground or rail, long-length contaminated equipment to treatment facilities.

Super Box

Recently, CH2M HILL designed and fabricated a 60-foot-long steel box for truck or rail transport of waste. The box will be used for the transportation of long-length contaminated equipment such as saltwell screens, pumps, and thermocouple trees. This container is fully Department of Transportation compliant for either rail or truck shipment and should last for at least 15 years.

Previously, contaminated equipment was cut into manageable pieces, packaged in standard waste boxes, and shipped to an off-site treatment facility. This process exposed workers to radiation and the potential for other injuries while they used tools to cut the material up in the field. By reducing the amount of handling required, CH2M HILL has been able to reduce worker exposure to radiation and reduce other potential work place hazards to a minimum.

Inside Super Box

Vadose Zone

The CH2M HILL Tank Farms Vadose Zone Project was established to characterize the contamination in the soil beneath Hanford's underground waste storage tanks so action can be taken to protect public health and the environment. The storage tanks hold 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste. The soil contamination is the result of earlier leaks from as many as 67 older single-shell tanks, as well as discharges to the soil from past site operations. The project focuses on contaminants in the vadose zone, which is the area of soil between the ground's surface and the water table. Information gained from the project will be integrated with data from other groundwater/vadose projects at the site, providing greater understanding of the site's surface contamination.

Vadose Zone

CH2M HILL is using advanced technologies, such as the Slant Borehole system, the Direct Push technique, and Subsurface Geophysical Exploration, to characterize the nature and extent of contaminants in the soil beneath and around the tanks. With these and other innovative approaches, we can investigate areas that are difficult to reach with conventional techniques, and we can accurately characterize the contaminants and their location and migration in the in the environment. The information is essential to develop strategies that will monitor and mitigate any risks to human and ecological health.

Remediation of the contamination beneath Hanford's waste tanks will be one of the greatest challenges facing the site. New technologies are continually being explored that will provide a better understanding of the nature of the contamination, the extent to which it has spread and how best to deal with it. The program's goal is to reach final tank farm closure, including the remediation of the soil and infrastructure to satisfy the mandate of the Tri-Party Agreement.

Upgrades to Infrastructure

The Hanford Tank Farms Infrastructure Upgrades Project M-43 helped the Office of River Protection satisfy legal cleanup requirements to meet the Tri-Party Agreement milestone M-43. CH2M HILL assumed responsibility the 11-year project in 2000 and met the milestone with significant time and cost savings.

Project M-43 has encompassed more than 40 subordinate milestones through the execution of five separate construction projects:

These projects were particularly challenging because they involved upgrading the largest mixed-waste tank storage and treatment system in the United States. We’ve brought the system into compliance with state and federal regulations for systems handling dangerous or hazardous wastes, including RCRA requirements.

Upgrading the tank farms is one of CH2M HILL’s primary responsibilities at the site. The upgrades are needed in preparation for feeding waste to, and receiving waste from the Waste Treatment Plant for processing. The upgrades will also support the potential use of supplemental technology for treating and disposing of low-activity tank waste.

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