In December of 2008, Dr. Ines Triay, DOE's Undersecretary for Environmental Management, announced the "footprint reduction" for Hanford and other DOE cleanup sites. But, she also dropped a new vision on us - turning some of the land that will be freed up - into Energy Parks.

AND, her vision was that this would happen by the year 2015!

Had Dr. Triay NOT included her comment about Energy Parks... we believe that the Tri-Cities community and others at Oak Ridge, Savannah River and Idaho... would have gone on our merry way... thinking that - some day - we might have some land available for some kind of "industrial use."

BUT - she DID mention Energy Parks - and nearly overnight, the Tri-Cities community, and the other weapons complex sites - could see a REAL vision, new opportunities, and a new mission for these DOE sites.

Rather than simply turning into a site that exists under what the government calls "institutional controls" to forever protect the most contaminated area out in the Central Plateau - we now have an opportunity to "become green" and even support DOE's move toward a new future, a renewable energy future.

This background leads us to our Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative (MCEI).

Immediately after Dr. Tray's announcement, TRIDEC in the Tri-Cities, called a meeting of some 20 individuals representing local energy companies - PUDs, solar manufacturers, BPA, Energy Northwest (our state's nuclear operator), and Mission Support Alliance, the company that operates the utilities and support on the Hanford Site. 20 individuals were invited, 27 showed up! This group has been meeting monthly since January of 2009, and it now has become a formal committee of TRIDEC, called the Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative.

The Office of Environmental Management (EM) of the Department of Energy (DOE) has made considerable progress in the overall footprint reduction at Hanford with a clear vision for 2015. In addition Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu and President Barack Obama have also committed the DOE to a 28 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, aid in job creation, and deploy renewable technologies across the nation in order to lessen the dependence on foreign oil.

A primary goal of MCEI is to provide solutions to national and Hanford energy challenges through local collaborations using local and regional renewable and carbon free energy resources (wind, solar, nuclear, biofuel, and hydro), leveraging research and development expertise and knowledge base, and engaging the trained workforce in the Tri-Cities.

MCEI advantage - replace the use of diesel fuel with natural gas on the Hanford Site

In the early meetings of what was to become MCEI, team members identified a distinct energy advantage that our Hanford site had over the other weapons complex cleanup sites.

The Hanford Energy Park could advance Hanford's cleanup mission by providing alternate energy sources by replacing the 40,000 gallons/day of diesel required for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Treatment Facility Steam Plant. By simply switching from diesel to natural gas the carbon footprint of Steam Plant operations would be reduced by a minimum of 40% and the monthly operating costs to operate the steam plant could be reduced by $1 million/month. This plant is expected to operate 24/7 for something close to 24 years.

These cost savings could then be utilized to help accelerate "green" clean up across the Hanford site. Also the utilization of alternate energy would provide an excellent opportunity to showcase DOE's leadership with implementation of Executive Order 13514, "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance".

To make this change - from diesel to natural gas - DOE would have to put out a Request for Proposal, which is now in process. It is clear that this change from diesel to natural gas will require a natural gas pipeline to be built from Franklin County, under the Columbia River, and out 17 miles to the Waste Treatment Plant. This action will require a full Environmental Impact Statement process in support of requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It is expected to take approximately two years to clear the regulatory requirements, and have the pipeline available by 2014.

MCEI also recognized that having a new natural gas pipeline cross through the area of Hanford that is currently identified by DOE for future industrial use, could be of great benefit for economic development activities, and enhance development of an Energy Park on former Hanford land.

CLEAN ENERGY AND ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION

Request: Meeting the goals of the Energy Park Initiative, Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative, and local economic diversification efforts requires federal lands be transferred to local agencies. TRIDEC, The City of Richland, The Port of Benton, and Benton County formally requested that 1,641 acres of land located at the Southeast corner of Hanford be turned over to the community for industrial development and renewable energy projects. The Department of Energy is in the process of reviewing this request.

Three years ago, a proposal was put forward by DOE that land on weapons complex production sites, as it is cleaned up, could be made available for industrial development and clean energy production, manufacturing and research. This proposal came to be known as the Energy Park Initiative. The Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative was the Tri-Cities response to the Energy Park proposal. In identifying the community assets that provide a competitive advantage for creating an Energy Park on former Hanford Lands, such as a wide array of existing renewable and carbon free energy production, they also identified a flourishing energy cluster within the Tri-Cities. The Mid Columbia Energy Initiative looks to bring the community together to further growth within the existing energy cluster and identify opportunities for major players to work together, such as the Pacific Northwest smart grid proposal. So while the Mid Columbia Energy Initiative has grown beyond its original connection to a possible Hanford Energy Park, the transfer of Hanford lands for other industrial uses is still a critical piece.

In 2010 the City of Richland, Port of Benton, and TRIDEC sent a joint letter to the U.S. DOE Richland Field Office (DOE-RL) to notify the local US DOE officials of the community's interest in acquiring Hanford land adjacent to the City of Richland to support economic diversification. The request, proposed a phased acquisition of 18 square miles (11,500 acres). This is a large land mass that represents only 3% of the entire Hanford site and less than 1/3 of Hanford lands currently identified by DOE for future industrial land use. The letter was not an unsolicited proposal, as identified in 10 CFR 770, but was intended to create discussion between the parties and the local field office to clarify which lands adjacent to the city may be available for surplus, which areas had ongoing missions, which areas were clean, and which areas had contamination. The end product of the discussions is to develop a meaningful proposal per 10 CFR 770.

Related to that request, the parties began discussions with a foreign conglomerate with a U.S. presence that claims interest in acquiring approximately 900 acres for the development of a energy related manufacturing plant. This is the second request in as many years for such a site, and whether this particular recruitment occurs or not, the parties remain committed that the availability of large sections of land (referred to as mega-sites) is critical to recruiting these type of companies. The 900 acre request is a part of the larger request, but the parties are seeking to expedite the 900 acre request to meet the needs of this current prospective client.

The community partners agree that the lead local entity on any transfer should be the entity who can best meet the DOE land transfer requirements and also meet the needs of potential private clients. Transfer is critical, because private companies require a level of certainty in the process that can be difficult to provide in the federal setting. The Tri-City partners can also provide infrastructure to meet the needs of the client and economic diversification is within all their missions.

+ Read Congressional and Local Delegate Letters of Support
+ Read the Hanford Land Transfer Request
+ Hanford Land Transfer in the News

Excerpt from a letter to Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy:

"I write in support of the Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative (MCEI), as it related to the Waste Treatment Plant and energy park on the Department of Energy Hanford Site in Washington State."

"Without question, this initiative will reduce operating costs for DOE, decrease our nation's dependence on foreign oil, and bring renewable energy demonstrations and development to the Pacific Northwest and our nation. Therefore, I am pleased to offer my endorsement of the MCEI, relative to the Waste Treatment Plant and Energy Park at Hanford, and respectfully request your support for this effort."

Energy Northwest
76 North Power Plant Loop
Richland, WA 99354
www.energy-northwest.com
Energy Northwest . . . powering the Pacific Northwest with a diverse mix of reliable, affordable, environmentally responsible electricity. Nuclear, hydro, wind turbines, and solar.

InnovaTek
3100 George Washington Way
Richland, WA 99354
www.tekkie.com / www.innovatek.com
InnovaTek creates and develops products for environmental safety and sustainable power, converting unique ideas to workable chemistry and hardware to provide better solutions for the world we live in. InnovaTek's vision is to use advanced technologies to move the world away from wasteful fossil fuel combustion and toward efficient energy generation from renewable biofuels, providing a path for sustainability for future generations. The company is developing products for customers seeking eco-friendly, economical, and sustainable alternatives to satisfy their power requirements. InnovaTek's energy system provides an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating not only power, but also thermal energy, from a single fuel source. The InnovaGen® energy system uses waste heat recovery and advanced hydrogen production and fuel cell technology to simultaneously produce heat and electricity from renewable feedstocks. This proprietary technology is being developed for several markets including auxiliary power, distributed energy, and electric vehicles. InnovaTek employees are a core team of scientists, engineers and business staff with multi-disciplinary expertise who provide the creative talents for an effective, entrepreneurial team. The company seeks collaborations with partners in the energy industry and with systems integrators and manufacturers.

Jacobs
295 Bradley Blvd. Ste. 204
Richland, WA 99352
www.jacobs.com
Jacobs provides professional, technical, and construction services comprising various aspects of engineering and construction, operations, and maintenance, as well as scientific and specialty consulting services. In 2010 Jacobs was ranked #2 in FORTUNE's "World's Most Admired Companies" (Engineering and Construction category).

Lockheed Martin
295 Bradley Blvd., Ste 204
Richland, WA 99352
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/index.html
Lockheed Martin provides national capabilities for electrical Distribution Management Systems (DMS), and Demand Response Management Systems (DRMS), which can provide real-time command and control of electrical distribution at the system level. In addition they can bring recommendations to DOE on the impacts of future alternative power generation and what systems are needed to ensure Hanford's energy security and sustainability might be.

Mission Support Alliance (MSA)
PO Box 650
Richland, WA 99352
www.msa.hanford.gov/msa
Provides environmental integration, site infrastructure and utilities, site business management, information resources and content management and portfolio management services to DOE and other contractors at the Hanford Site. MSA, in addition to providing utilities, transportation, information technology services, and site business management to the Hanford Site; also is responsible for providing fleet management, alternative fuels and transportation and future carbon footprint reductions to the operations at Hanford.

Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC)
7130 W. Grandridge Blvd, Ste. A
Kennewick, WA 99336
www.tridec.org
TRIDEC is the lead economic development organization for Benton and Franklin Counties and leader of MCEI.

Tri-Cities Research District
3100 George Washington Way
Richland, WA 99354
http://www.tricitiesresearchdistrict.org/
Pacific Northwest's center of technology invention and advancement. Tri-Cities Research District is recognized as a place where people with ideas create technologies that solve problems and produce commercial value.

Vista Engineering Technologies, LLC
1355 Columbia Park Trail
Richland, WA 99352
www.vistaengr.com
Engineering and environmental consulting