For nearly three years, cities in Hanford's shadow have looked to one another to keep watch on the health, environmental and economic issues facing their citizens.

But the future of that group, known as Hanford Communities, is now clouded by budget cuts facing Kennewick - the group's second largest player.

"We won't do away with the organization," said Joe King, Richland city manager and chairman of the group, which also includes Pasco, Benton City, West Richland and Benton County. "We won't have a dedicated staff person. We won't be hiring consultants."

Trimming the mission and scope of the intergovernmental group, formed in 1994 as a way to pool resources and information, is one way Hanford Communities will likely cope with the expected withdrawal of $17,000 in funding from the Kennewick.

The group's anticipated 1997 budget is $80,000, with 60 percent of the cost being paid by Richland and the remaining 40 percent, or $34,000, split between the other members.

Kennewick City Council mem bers are expected to vote Tuesday on a 1997-98 budget that will most likely eliminate funding for Hanford Communities as one of several money-saving cuts.

The cost burden among the six local governments was allocated by estimating the number of Hanford workers living in each community.

In Kennewick's case that came to about 20 percent of the total in the six jurisdictions.

"The city council believed we had higher priorities that needed to be funded," said Kennewick City Manager Bob Kelly of the proposed funding cuts. "We could not - at least in 1997 - participate in the funding allocation."

But Kelly was quick to praise the group's efforts in scrutinizing Hanford's impact on local communities. He pointed out that this year Hanford Communities' paid staffer, Pamela Brown, alerted the group to one preliminary federal report that excluded Hanford as a site for helping to deal with the nation's surplus plutonium.

Hanford Communities then hired a consultant to look into the study, and from there, the group has lobbied to have Hanford considered as a potential site, Kelly said.

"Those kinds of things have proved invaluable to the community. That's a potential for several hundred jobs," he said.

Should the group decide to become more of a voluntary organization without a paid staff member, it's unlikely that such federal studies will be given close scrutiny.

"In any one given week there's a mound of paper distributed about issues," Kelly said. "Just reading through it would be a fairly substantial task," he said.

King stressed Hanford Communities will survive in one form or another. There's a potential the group could secure outside funding through grant-writing.

Or the cities may parcel out pieces of Hanford documents to look at as time permits.

"We're not going to fold up our tent and shut down," King said.