H-3417.2          _______________________________________________

                             HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4034

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              54th Legislature             1996 Regular Session

By Representatives Mulliken, Chandler, Koster, Cairnes, Beeksma, Thompson, Buck, Elliot, Pelesky, McMahan, Schoesler, Honeyford, Goldsmith, Delvin, Hargrove, D. Schmidt, McMorris, D. Sommers, Mastin, Crouse, Skinner, Hankins and Silver

Read first time 01/11/96.  Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Ecology.

Requesting a change of boundaries at Hanford.

     TO THE HONORABLE WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:

     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

     WHEREAS, The area south of the Saddle Mountains in Grant County, Washington, known as the Wahluke Slope, is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the Pacific Northwest; and

     WHEREAS, The need for a large security and control zone around the Department of Energy's Hanford control zone on Wahluke Slope caused the forced relocation of citizens of Hanford, White Bluff, Wahluke, and the surrounding agricultural lands that had been settled prior to 1900; and

     WHEREAS, Due to the decommissioning of all the production reactors along the Hanford Reach opposite the Wahluke Slope, and with the overall change of the Department of Energy's Hanford mission from plutonium production to environmental restoration the need for a large security and control zone no longer exists; and

     WHEREAS, The Wahluke Slope's topography and its proximity to the Columbia River make the area unique in terms of the economic feasibility of irrigation development; and

     WHEREAS, Prior to its inclusion in the Hanford control zone, the Bureau of Reclamation had purchased over 27,000 acres of the Wahluke Slope with the intent of future development in the Columbia Basin Project; and

     WHEREAS, The balanced development of this land would achieve the long-awaited completion of irrigation on the Wahluke Slope and improved wildlife and recreational opportunities; and

     WHEREAS, Based on current land prices, the sale of land to private owners could potentially cover a great deal of the cost of constructing water delivery systems, due to the suitability of topography and nearby water supply; and

     WHEREAS, Resulting property tax and income tax revenues from this new farm land would be an immediate and significant benefit; and

     WHEREAS, Farmland development would result in millions of dollars in capital investment for farm equipment of all kinds, the great majority of it manufactured in the United States by American workers; and

     WHEREAS, The vast majority of crops presently raised on the Wahluke Slope have potential for export to the Pacific Rim and other nations; and

     WHEREAS, Other than small grains, the crops grown on the Wahluke Slope are completely driven by the free-market economy and are not subsidized or supported by the federal government; and

     WHEREAS, The Wahluke Slope contains significant areas of land not suitable for farming, but that are ideally suited for wildlife habitat and recreational uses; and

     WHEREAS, The United States can no longer afford to hold idle public lands of this potential;

     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the present boundaries of the Department of Energy's Hanford control zone on the Wahluke Slope be reduced to the area south of the Columbia River and that the Wahluke Slope presently under the custody and control of the Department of Energy be transferred in total to the counties of Grant, Franklin, and Adams for the purpose of returning the land to its former agricultural use, as well as for wildlife and recreational areas along the Hanford Reach.

     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United States, the Director of the Department of Energy, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.

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