Wednesday, Jul. 16, 2008

Murray, Hastings want explanation from DOE about contract delay

By Les Blumenthal, Herald Washington, D.C., bureau

WASHINGTON -- Two state lawmakers asked the Department of Energy on Tuesday to explain why the awarding of a mission support contract for the Hanford reservation has been delayed and when it could be expected.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Republican Rep. Doc Hastings said even though Congress has no role in selecting a contractor, "our concern has always been the impact federal policies and decisions have on the local community, the Hanford workforce and cleanup progress."

In a letter to James Rispoli, who heads DOE cleanup office, the two lawmakers said the mission support contract was originally supposed to have been awarded prior to the award of the contracts for Tank Operations and the Central Plateau. But while those contracts have been announced, DOE has not announced the winner of the mission support contract.

In a statement, the department said it remained "committed" to awarding the contracts in a manner that will "best position" DOE to carry out its cleanup mission. The department also said all three contracts were supposed to be awarded in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year and the award of the mission support contract remains on schedule.

But Murray and Hastings were skeptical.

"As you can imagine, with three new contracts being awarded at Hanford there are questions and concerns about what the changes will mean," they wrote. "These questions have been amplified by the department's action to depart from previously announced plans and award the mission support contract last."

The mission support contract could be worth more than $3.2 billion over 10 years. The contract includes security, fire protection, computer services and other information technology, utilities training at HAMMER and road and railroad services.

Murray and Hastings said a statement from DOE on when the contract would be awarded could help ease some anxieties among Hanford workers.

"As the mission support contract will be responsible for the management of workforce benefits and coordinating services among all site contractors, details about the steps the department is taking to ensure smooth transitions will take place as each of these three contract are implemented would also be helpful," they wrote.

DOE sought to reassure workers there would be no disruptions in things like benefits, adding the contract process at Hanford had been structured to allow "flexibility" in awarding the three contracts in any sequence.

"The administration of contractor employee pension and benefits will be seamless throughout the award transition; the incumbent Project Hanford Management contractor will maintain these responsibilities until the new mission support contract is awarded and the transition is complete," DOE said.

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