RICHLAND

city, Benton county, south-central Washington, U.S., situated at the juncture of the Yakima and Columbia rivers; with Kennewick and Pasco it forms a tri-city area. Named in 1905 for Nelson Rich, a local landowner and state legislator, it was incorporated in 1908 and remained a farming village (population c. 250) until 1942, when, with the development of the atomic bomb, it became part of the 400,000-acre (160,000-hectare) reservation of the Hanford Atomic Works. Developed by the federal government, it was administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The Atomic Energy Commission (later the Energy Research and Development Administration , subsequently the Department of Energy) and the General Electric Company assumed control in 1947, and Richland was reincorporated as a city in 1958 with transfer of property to private ownership. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the permanent closing of the Hanford Atomic Works (except for one massive concrete chemical plant, PUREX) in 1988, but not before such by-products as uranium isotopes, toxic solvents, plutonium-contaminated equipment, and heavy metals had been buried in some 177 underground tanks or stored aboveground, posing a grave environmental hazard. The surrounding area supported irrigated farming (vineyards, orchards, hop fields) and ranch activities, and by the 1980s a more diversified economy was being achieved. Pop. (1990) city, 32,315; Richland-Kennewick-Pasco MSA, 150,033. county, central South Carolina, U.S. It is bordered to the east by the Wateree River and to the west by the Broad River, which, after its confluence with the Saluda, becomes the Congaree River. The northern portion of the county lies in Fall Line hills, whereas the southern part consists of flat Coastal Plain terrain with large areas of swampland. Much of the county is wooded in pines and hardwoods. Congaree Swamp National Monument is located there, as are Harbison State Forest, Sesquicentennial State Park, McEntire Air National Guard Base, and Fort Jackson, an army training base. Algonquian-speaking Saluda Indians inhabited the region at the beginning of the colonial period. Richland county was established in 1785 and named for the quality of its soil. Although farming (soybeans and cattle) continues, the area is now principally urban, dominated by the county seat and South Carolina state capital, Columbia, and its suburbs. Columbia is also home to the University of South Carolina (founded 1801). Health care, manufacturing (textiles, steel, chemicals, and industrial equipment), transportation, and government services are the basis of the economy. Area 756 square miles (1,959 square km). Pop. (1990) 286,321; (1998 est.) 307,056.