OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson warned Thursday the state is prepared to take legal action if the Trump administration delays or cancels plans to clean up the Hanford nuclear site.

Development of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant has been in the works for decades, costing an estimated $30 billion taxpayer-funded project aimed at treating millions of gallons of radioactive waste.

Ferguson and community leaders met near the site Friday afternoon as concerns mounted over potential changes to the federal cleanup timeline.

The Department of Energy operates under a federal court order to treat 56 million gallons of radioactive waste currently stored in underground tanks at the site.

For decades, the United States produced plutonium at Hanford for nuclear weapons, leaving

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