$10 billion Hanford contract is appealed. 2nd protest means more uncertainty for workers

A protest has been filed over the Department of Energy’s award of a new contract worth up to $10 billion for environmental cleanup at the Hanford nuclear reservation.

The Government Accounting Office posted a notice Wednesday indicating that Project W. Restoration LLC was contesting the award. Bechtel is the lead owner of the company based in Reston, Va.

The 10-year Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup Contract was awarded Dec. 12 to Central Plateau Cleanup Co.

It is made up of Aecom Management Services in Germantown, Md.; Fluor Federal Services in Greenville, S.C.; and Atkins Nuclear Secured in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The contract will replace the expiring contract held by CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., owned by Jacobs Engineering Group.

CH2M is on its 12th year of work after having its 10-year contract extended until as long as September 2020 to give DOE more time to award a new contract and then transition contracts.

A 60-day transition period is planned after the contract award becomes final.

“I realize this will add to the uncertainty many of us already face during this time of contract change across the Hanford site,” said Ty Blackford, president of CH2M at Hanford, in a message to employees about the bid protest.

The current contractor employs nearly 1,700 workers and many of them can expect to transfer to the new contractor, which will bring in its own management.

A website has been set up to answer CH2M employee questions. However, Blackford said information on benefits will be determined by the incoming contractor and is not available.

Bid protest decision timeline

DOE said in a statement when it awarded the contract that the Aecom-led team it had selected would provide the best value to DOE, considering its proposed leadership team, technical and management approach, past performance and cost.

The GAO does not make public bid protest documents when they are filed.

Bechtel had no comment on an ongoing procurement.

The GAO has a deadline to decide the bid protest by April 30, but its goal is to make a decision as soon as possible, according to information on its website.

It initially has 30 days to provide a report addressing protest arguments, unless the protest is dismissed sooner for procedural reasons.

The GAO will take comments from the company filing the appeal and then may request more filings, conduct an alternative dispute resolution or hold a hearing.

2nd recent bid protest

The GAO also has received a bid protest on the $4 billion award on Dec. 16 by DOE for Hanford sitewide services, with the protest remaining open.

DOE awarded the sitewide services contract, which replaces the expiring contract of Mission Support Alliance, to Mission Integration Solutions.

It is ownd by Leidos Integrated Technology of Maryland, Centerra Group of Florida and Parsons Government Services of California.

The protest was filed Jan. 13 with the GAO by Hanford Integrated Infrastructure Services Contractor, a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries.

DOE also is preparing to award a new multi-billion-dollar contract to manage 56 million gallons of radioactive waste held in underground tanks and prepare it to be treated for permanent disposal.

It will replace the expiring contract of Washington River Protection Solutions, owned by Aecom and Atkins.

The 580-square-mile Hanford nuclear reservation is contaminated with nuclear and hazardous chemical waste after producing plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War.

About $2.5 billion is spent annually on Hanford environmental cleanup.

New contract model

The new central Hanford cleanup contract work will include digging up contaminated soil and debris; tearing down defunct buildings with radioactive or hazardous chemical contamination; operating large, lined landfills for radioactive and hazardous chemical waste; and cleaning up contaminated groundwater.

The new contract uses the DOE Office of Environmental Management’s new end state contracting model, which is designed to assign discrete scopes of work to be competed, as needed.

DOE has said the new method will provide more realistic, reliable pricing and incentives to help reduce DOE’s financial liability for cleanup.

The specific tasks will be assigned to the new contractor under what DOE calls a master indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract.

The new contractor may be reimbursed for the costs of some tasks and then be rewarded with incentive pay to allow it to earn profit, which is the typical contracting method for Hanford cleanup.

Other work may be done for a pre-determined price to be paid to the new contractor.

The new contractor will be required to subcontract some of its work to small businesses.

This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 4:04 PM.