Summary Profiles of Hanford Effluent Release Data

Hanford publishes extensive estimates of their offsite releases of various chemical and radiological species annuaIly. In this report we examine using these estimates to develop additional insight into how effectively such releases of hazardous materials are being controlled at Hanford. Historical estimates of airborne and surface water releases of selected contaminants are compared with estimates of the overall Site inventory of those contaminants and with the corresponding release limits and background levels. These comparisons are also examined over a five-year period (1993 to 1997) to determine how these releases have changed during that time. Most of the waste management and environmental restoration activities under way at Hanford are intended to provide final, permanent disposition of the Site's inventory of hazardous materials, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that risks to the public and the environment are controlled to an acceptable level. An important consideration during the conduct of these activities is prott%ting the public and the environment while accomplishing the longer-term ~~ objectives. The amounts of hazardous materials that are being released to the air or surface water while waste management and environmental activities are being conducted is one important measure of their overall effectiveness. The comparisons described in this report indicate that measures to control the release of the selected contaminants from the Hanford Site are, and have been, veryeffective. The amounts of these materials released to surface water and air are very small compared with background and regulatory limits and smaller still considering the inventories" under management. Comparisons of annual releases ranged from slightly over background to five orders of magnitude below background levels (e.g., l/10,000* of background levels), and up to 14 orders of magnitude less than estimates of Site inventories. Annual releases for these contaminants ranged from three to ten orders of magnitude less than regulatory limits. In addition, release of the selected contaminants generally decreased over the five-year period examined.