State Senate passes bill involving Hanford worker safety

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A bill to protect the health of workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has passed the state Senate.

The bill passed Wednesday and now heads to the state House of Representatives.

Sponsored by Republican state Sen. Sharon Brown of Kennewick, the bill would create a task force to study worker health concerns. The task force would develop recommendations for treating workers who are exposed to chemical vapors in the Hanford tank farms.

The task force, to be named by the governor, would include representatives of Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the U.S. Department of Energy, a union, the director of the State Department of Labor and Industries and the secretary of the State Department of Health.

Hanford is located near the Tri-Cities and for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons.

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Associated Press