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| ====Introduction and Background==== | ====Introduction and Background==== | ||
| The Hanford Nuclear Reservation located on the Columbia River in Eastern Washington has been subject to seismic swarm activity for the past several decades. The site sits above the Columbia River basalt (CRB) flows that make up the Columbia Basin in southeastern Washington. It also falls within the region of the seismically active Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) [//Blakely et al., 2012//]. A major swarm occurred between 1969 and 1970 followed by two smaller ones in 1975 and 1988 [//Wicks et al., 2011//]. The most recent event began in January of 2009 just south of Wooded Island (Fig. 1) and continued throughout the year. It is the first recording of clustered, shallow earthquakes in this area where geodetic measurements of surface deformation were available for analysis. Since then low-magnitude shallow events have continued to occur at the site. | The Hanford Nuclear Reservation located on the Columbia River in Eastern Washington has been subject to seismic swarm activity for the past several decades. The site sits above the Columbia River basalt (CRB) flows that make up the Columbia Basin in southeastern Washington. It also falls within the region of the seismically active Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) [//Blakely et al., 2012//]. A major swarm occurred between 1969 and 1970 followed by two smaller ones in 1975 and 1988 [//Wicks et al., 2011//]. The most recent event began in January of 2009 just south of Wooded Island (Fig. 1) and continued throughout the year. It is the first recording of clustered, shallow earthquakes in this area where geodetic measurements of surface deformation were available for analysis. Since then low-magnitude shallow events have continued to occur at the site. | ||
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| Earthquakes are major cause for concern in this area because of Hanford’s historical role in plutonium production for nuclear weapons during World War II. Plutonium manufacturing is an inefficient process that produces large amounts of solid and liquid waste [www.hanford.gov]. Until the Hanford reactors were mostly decommissioned in the 1980s, solid wastes were buried in pits or trenches on the Hanford Reservation and liquid wastes were poured on to the ground or stored underground in storage tanks [www.hanford.gov]. Ground deformation caused by earthquakes and aseismic slip on or near the reservation could potentially cause toxic waste leakage into the groundwater used by the homes and farms surrounding Hanford. | Earthquakes are major cause for concern in this area because of Hanford’s historical role in plutonium production for nuclear weapons during World War II. Plutonium manufacturing is an inefficient process that produces large amounts of solid and liquid waste [www.hanford.gov]. Until the Hanford reactors were mostly decommissioned in the 1980s, solid wastes were buried in pits or trenches on the Hanford Reservation and liquid wastes were poured on to the ground or stored underground in storage tanks [www.hanford.gov]. Ground deformation caused by earthquakes and aseismic slip on or near the reservation could potentially cause toxic waste leakage into the groundwater used by the homes and farms surrounding Hanford. | ||
