Hanford and the Tri-Cities economy 1997

The missions of the US Department of Energy`s Richland Operations Office (DOE/RL) are to safely manage the Hanford Site, to manage and clean up its legacy wastes, and to develop and deploy new science and technology in the environmental and energy fields. Collectively, DOE/RL and its contractors are the most important single entity in the Tri-Cities local economy (Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, Washington, and the surrounding area). While the relevant economic region affected by DOE/RL and its contractors actually embraces a geographic area reaching from Yakima in the west to Walla Walla in the east and from Moses Lake in the north to Pendleton, Oregon, in the south, over 90% of economic impacts likely occur in Benton and Franklin Counties. These two counties are defined as the local Tri-Cities economy for purposes of this study. In the Federal fiscal year (FY) 1997 (October 1, 1996 through September 30, 1997), the total impact of DOE`s local $1.7 billion budget was felt through payrolls and local purchases of goods and services that totaled about $774 million. Directly or indirectly, the DOE/RL budget sustained an estimated 36% of all local employment (30,300 out of 84,800 jobs) and up to 67% of local wage income