The Yakama Nation filed the necessary sixty-day notice to warn the U.S. Department of Energy of its planned lawsuit over the Hanford nuclear site’s pollution of the Colombia River. The Nation contends that radioactive material was discharged into the river from the 1940’s through the 1960’s, contributing to the decline in salmon populations throughout the region. The Yakama, who have always relied on the river and its resources, are unsatisfied with previous cleanup efforts.
