Hanford crews demolish iconic guard tower
Guard Tower Demolition
One of the last iconic symbols from Hanford's Cold War era is demolished at the hazardous waste site.
Yesterday, crews tore down a large guard tower once used to give workers a bird's eye view of the surrounding area.
The security guard tower, which stood 62 feet tall, overlooked the Columbia River and the Hanford site.
It symbolized Hanford's mission to safely produce plutonium for America's defense program - as crews stationed in the tower helped protect one of the site's most complex reactors.
It's a bittersweet day for former Hanford employees Joe Rodriquez and Terry Henry.
"It's just sad. It's a sad moment to see it go away" said Rodriquez.
The two worked in the large guard tower at Hanford for several years in the 1970s and 80s.
But this week, clean-up crews tore it down.
"It was always interesting to work in the tower. Most of us volunteered to stay there all day" said Henry.
The guard tower, which now sits as a pile of rubble, was once an icon of the hazardous site - as it stood right next to the N Reactor, which was only reactor in the nation to produce both plutonium and electricity during the Cold War.
"It's really an iconic symbol of Hanford's mission of plutonium production out here. It is also a symbol of Washington Closure Hanford to clean up the river corridor" said Gary Snow, Washington Closure Hanford.
Crews inside the tower kept an eye on the surrounding areas, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"The way it was situated, you could see way up the river, way down the river. You could tell if you we're going to have somebody come in" said Henry.
But the best part of the job for Rodriquez and Henry was the spectacular view.
"The scenery was great out here. We got to see a lot of wildlife, got to see the elk and the deer, and at that time we also had wild horses out here" said Rodriquez.
"I watched 23 head of elk swim out across the river and come up on this side. Up until then, I did not know that elk could swim that far" said Henry.
The former workers say even though the icon stands no more, they're proud of the time they spent inside protecting the site.
"Oh yes, lots of good memories" said Rodriquez.
The demolition of the tower is part of Washington Closure Hanford's cleanup of the river corridor - which is a 220 square mile area along the Columbia River.
To give you some perspective, that's about the size of the city of Chicago.
The entire River Corridor Cleanup project is on schedule to be completed in 2015.
It's costing $2.3 million.