Preface

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1, "General Environmental Protection Program," establishes the requirement for environmental protection programs at DOE sites and facilities. These programs ensure that DOE operations comply with applicable federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, executive orders, and Department policies.

This Hanford Site environmental report is prepared annually pursuant to DOE Orders 5400.1 and 231.1, "Environment, Safety, and Health Reporting," and DOE (1995a), Environment, Safety and Health Reporting Manual, to summarize environmental data that characterize Hanford Site environmental management performance and demonstrate compliance status. The report also highlights significant environmental programs and efforts. More detailed environmental compliance, monitoring, surveillance, and study reports may be of value; therefore, to the extent practical, these additional reports have been referenced in the text.

Although this report was written to meet DOE reporting requirements and guidelines, it was also intended to be useful to members of the public, public officials, regula- tors, and Hanford Site contractors. The "Helpful Information" section lists acronyms, abbreviations, conversion information, and nomenclature useful for understanding the report.

This report is produced for the DOE Richland Operations Office, Environmental Assurance, Permits and Policy Division by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Public Safety and Resource Protection Program. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for DOE. Battelle is a not-for-profit independent contract research institute. Major portions of the report were written by staff from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (the site research-and-development contractor) and selected subcontractors and enterprise companies of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. (the site management and integration contractor). Bechtel Hanford, Inc. (the environmental restoration contractor) and MACTEC-ERS also prepared or provided input to selected sections.

Copies of this report have been provided to many libraries in communities around the Hanford Site and to several university libraries in Washington and Oregon. Copies can also be found at DOE's Hanford Reading Room located on the campus of Washington State University Tri-Cities. Copies of the report can be obtained from Mr. R. W. (Bill) Hanf, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352 (rw_hanf@pnl.gov) while supplies last or can be purchased from the National Technical Information Center, Springfield, Virginia 22161.

This report has been issued in two hard-copy formats and an electronic format. The hard-copy documents include this large technical report and a smaller, less-detailed summary report consisting of approximately 40 pages. The electronic versions of both hard-copy documents are available on the Internet at http://www.hanford.gov/docs/annualrp96/index.htm.

Inquiries regarding this report may be directed to Mr. D. C. (Dana) Ward, DOE Richland Operations Office, Environmental Assurance, Permits and Policy Division, P.O. Box 550, Richland, Washington 99352 (dana_c_ward@rl.gov), or to Mr. R. L. (Roger) Dirkes, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352 (rl_dirkes@pnl.gov).