Columbia Riverkeeper

What it reported doing in 2024

Cleaning up hanford -the columbia river runs along the hanford nuclear site, home to some of the most dangerous pollution on earth. A legacy of world war ii and the cold war, the federal government selected hanford as a top-secret site for the manhattan project, which called for enriching plutonium for nuclear weapons. The 586-square-mile hanford site rests on the ceded lands of multiple tribal nations. In 2024, riverkeeper worked in solidarity with the tribes and indigenous people who are leading the effort to hold the u.s. Government accountable for cleanup.columbia riverkeepers cleaning up hanford program is one of eternal hope. Working on a cleanup with no end in a single lifetime presents unique challenges that our team grapples with every day. Radioactive and toxic pollution from hanford threatens water quality, salmon and peoples health. Contamination from hanford still reaches the columbia river. Without effective cleanup, more pollution threatens to escape into the environment in the coming decades. In 2024, columbia riverkeeper used public pressure, grassroots organizing, and technical assessment of cleanup plans to advocate for thorough, timely cleanup. Highlights include:100+ people joined us at the hanford journey, an event planned and led by yakama nations hanford cleanup agency and columbia riverkeeper to draw attention to the critical importance of hanford nuclear site cleanup. 450+ members and supporters advocated for improvements to the u.s. Dept. Of energys proposed hanford nuclear site cleanup plans. 4 student representatives of the yakama nation participated in the state & tribal government working group meeting in New Mexico, thanks to scholarships from columbia riverkeeper. In addition to hanford cleanup, the area is threatened by new nuclear energy proposals. Currently, the company x-energy is proposing to build small modular nuclear reactors (smnrs) adjacent to hanford near the columbia river. It has proposed and canceled plans to build in Washington several times in recent years. The nuclear industry claims to be clean, but it is an extremely dirty technologybeginning with uranium mining, which decimates indigenous lands. Smnrs produce two- to 30-times the radioactive waste of older nuclear designs, waste for which we have no national repository. Any community that hosts a nuclear reactor will likely be saddled with its waste for the foreseeable future. This harm falls disproportionately on tribal nations and indigenous people. Columbia riverkeeper will continue to advocate for hanford clean and a just transition from fossil fuels that does not include smnrs.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 87.3%; rating input score 87
• Fundraising efficiency: $11.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 15.8%; rating input score 16; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -38.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.59; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 17%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings