Washington state has fined the U.S. Energy Dept. $500,000 for releasing 80 gallons of radioactive tank waste into soil at its Hanford site. The July 27 spill endangered workers and halted cleanup of leaky underground waste tanks there, the state says. The incident occurred when contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group was pumping tank waste. The penalty cites two violations inadequate design of the waste retrieval system and inadequate engineering review. A CH2M Hill spokesman says DOE has reduced its fee by an equal amount, but it can earn back half by implementing corrections.