Northwest News Network

Washington state is taking legal action against the U.S. government after a tunnel full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at the Hanford nuclear site.

Washington Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon called the incident “alarming” and said state officials need to hold the feds accountable to cleanup the site.

The U.S. Department of Energy needs to immediately assess the integrity of the tunnels and fix them, She said.

The infrastructure built to temporarily store radioactive waste is now more than 50 years old. The state said the tunnel collapse is direct evidence that it’s failing.

The Yakama Nation, a group of Northwest tribes, also is calling for quicker cleanup of the tunnels.

At the Hanford nuclear site, workers have filled the tunnel cave-in with dirt and employees there are returning to work.

A group of climate activists is fasting on the steps of the Washington state Capitol this week as part of a protest against Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed cap on carbon emissions. The activists say the cap doesn’t go far enough.

The group is small — just 15 or so. At one point they stood together holding a banner that read: “Fasting For Their Future.” The banner included photographs of children with their families.

The group says Inslee’s so called Clean Air Rule is inadequate when it comes to capping industrial carbon emissions in Washington.

“This draft ruling is basically business as usual,” said Deborah Woolley who’s participating in the fast.

“It allows the fossil fuel industries to basically continue as they have been doing and we’re seeing the effects of that,” she added.

The fast is timed to coincide with a public hearing on the Clean Air Rule later this week. A spokeswoman for Inslee called the proposed rule “a strong first step” to address carbon pollution in Washington.

The Association of Washington Business said the proposed cap “sends the wrong signal” to businesses in Washington and those that might want to relocate to the state.