When
the Department of Energy proposed to cut funding in half for the
Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response
(HAMMER) training center at the Hanford nuclear site in the Tri-Cities,
the Union took swift action to preserve this outstanding program,
which was built and operated by Union members. District President Mark Blondin immediately enlisted help from two of our influential political allies - Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell. In a matter of days, a meeting was scheduled between Union officials, HAMMER, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and of course, representatives from both Senators' office.
While this facility has been hailed as a model training center and offers the only real hands-on training of its kind, the DOE proposed slashing the budget in half from $5.9 million to $3.5 million. The cuts would eliminate many of the spectacular props that make the HAMMER training complex unique.
HAMMER's primary function is providing regulatory training for the Hanford employees, who work with some of the most hazardous material man has created. Yet HAMMER does much more and has become a national training center for fire fighters, law enforcement personnel, rescue workers, emergency responders, SWAT teams, border guards, hazardous material workers, and even response teams for chemical/biological attacks or weapons of mass destruction. September 11th highlighted the need for such a facility - making the restored funding even more critical.
Local 1951 President Keith Smith,
who has been involved in the center since its creation, offered
valuable information at the meeting stating, "Before HAMMER
opened, Westinghouse provided required training for Hanford workers
at a cost of $240 million per year - and their training was strictly
in the classroom. The HAMMER facility is a real bargain at $5.9
million. Since HAMMER opened in 1997, Hanford's safety record
has greatly improved because workers received hands-on experience
so in a real-life situation, their response is second nature.
A mistake in those situations could cost them their life."Smith added, "If you don't have HAMMER, you still have to train somewhere due to regulations. With the increasing need for homeland security, why build another facility - utilize this one and continue to fund it and expand its uses."
Smith noted, "The workers that cleaned up the Hart Senate Building in Washington DC following the anthrax mail attacks, trained at HAMMER -- proving the value of this facility."
HAMMER's uniqueness comes from its "props" -- houses with rooms that spit fire or spew smoke, pits and overturned railcars that shoot flames, a four-story tower that burns, and underground crawl-through pipes and enclosed spaces for learning specialized search and rescue techniques. Several types of radioactive and hazardous materials mock-ups are used, as well.
Both Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell are working hard to not only restore funding for 2003, but to make HAMMER a permanent item in the DOE budget so we don't have to fight this battle every year.