22-03-2025
DOGE to close Hanford, PNNL worker office and 5 other federal leases in Eastern WA
The Trump administration plans to end the lease of the Richland office used to help ill Hanford workers and their survivors sort out their options for compensation and care.
The Hanford Workforce Engagement Center at 309 Bradley Blvd. opened in 2018 with union and nonunion representative to help people who might be eligible for federal compensation understand what help is available from different programs and how to navigate the claims process.
The programs are complex and with services that overlap benefits.
To date it is the only federal lease that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk has targeted to end in the Tri-Cities area.
However, the Trump administration has announced plans to end five other federal leases elsewhere in Eastern Washington, including offices for the Drug Enforcement Administration and offices that work to protect endangered salmon and steelhead, help farmers and manage forest service land.
DOGE lists the closure of the office just off George Washington Way as saving $53,700 by canceling an annual lease that costs about $19,500.
The U.S Department of Labor has paid out nearly $2.5 billion in compensation and to cover medical bills of Hanford nuclear site workers who developed diseases such as cancer after exposure or suspected exposure to radiation or chemicals on the job. In some cases, the compensation from the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program was paid to their survivors.
Workers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland also are eligible for compensation and medical care under the program, which has paid $435 million to PNNL workers or their survivors.
The payments have included almost $860 million in medical care to current and former ill Hanford workers and $155 million to ill PNNL workers.
Locally, people may know it as the 'white card' program because of the color of the medical benefits card issued by the U.S. Department of Labor, which covers medical expenses for covered conditions including 24-hour in-home health care.
Compensation can include a $150,000 payment for radiation-caused cancers or lung disease caused by the metal beryllium and $250,000 for wage loss, impairment and survivor benefits for exposure to toxic chemicals.
Claims have been filed for compensation or care for 15,600 Hanford and PNNL workers.
Hanford was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. What is now called PNNL was established in the 1940s for research to support Hanford and the Manhattan Project.
Hanford and PNNL workers or their survivors also may be eligible for Washington state Department of Labor and Industries workers' compensation under a Washington state law that eased eligibility for claim approval.
The Hanford Workforce Engagement Center at this point remains open in Richland and can be reached by calling 509-376-4932.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she is demanding answers from the Trump administration on how it plans to ensure the continuity of service for people who rely on the Hanford center and services provided by other federal agencies in offices with leases it plans to end.
DOGE posted online that planned leased terminations would reduce about 8 million square feet the federal government is paying for and save $350 million.
'Trump and Elon are rich enough that they've never had to rely on any of the services the federal government provides and they have no idea what it's like for people who do,' said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a news release Friday.
'They're just trying to break government and enrich themselves, and they don't give a damn about the consequences for regular people,' she said.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who was in Pasco on Thursday said then that the federal government must cut its spending of nearly $3 trillion more than money it collects annually.
Other federal leases in Eastern Washington that the Trump administration plans to end include:
▪ The Bureau of Indian Affairs Yakama Agency office in Toppenish. Members of the Yakama Nation can get in-person assistance to help ensure the federal government's responsibility to the Yakama Nation are fulfilled.
▪ The Drug Enforcement Administration office in Yakima. Six employees, including federal law enforcement officers, worked out of the office as of April 2024, according to information from Murray's staff.
▪ Natural Resources Conservation Service's Dayton Service Center. The office provides in-person help with federal programs to farmers, producers and forest landowners. The agency works to reduce erosion and flood damage and to improve water quality, restore watersheds and manage agricultural waste.
▪ The Forest Service Ranger Station in Pomeroy. It is the Pomeroy Ranger District station for the Umatilla National Forest, which stretches over 1.4 million acres in the heart of the Blue Mountains of Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon.
▪ The U.S. Geological Survey's Washington Water Science Center field office in Spokane Valley. The center works to protect endangered salmon and steelhead, ensure dam operators have the information needed to operate safely, and protect farmers and their crops, according to Murray's staff.
In addition to ending leases, the Trump administration also listed online several federally owned buildings in the state that it plans to get rid of, before deleting the list, according to Murray's staff.
They include the Henry M. Jackson Building in Seattle, the largest federal building in the Northwest, housing help centers for the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs and the Internal Revenue Service, plus other services.
Other Seattle federal buildings also were on the list, along with the Vancouver Federal Building and the Bonneville Power Administration Headquarters in Portland, Ore.
