Cleanup & Remediation

In roughly a month the Washington state Department of Ecology will take comments on a Department of Energy proposal that could lead to offsite solidification and disposal of 2,000 gallons of less-radioactive tank waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 45-day public comment period, on whether to grant a Research, Development, and Demonstration […]

It is both “premature and improper” to grant employees fired from a Department of Energy contractor at the Oak Ridge Site a break from the normal statute of limitations before they even join a lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in Tennessee last week. “Plaintiffs’ motion for joinder is improper because they have no authority to […]

The Department of Energy’s Jacobs-led cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory failed to take proper precautions before a January 2023 worker exposure to carbon monoxide, DOE’s internal enforcement wing wrote in a recent letter. An industrial hygienist suffered physical symptoms linked to “acute” carbon monoxide (CO) exposure immediately following detection of dangerous levels of […]

Butte County, Idaho has not shown the Department of Energy’s storage of spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory violates the law, but the county may amend its complaint to preserve its lawsuit, a federal district judge ruled last week. U.S. District Court Judge David Nye on Thursday granted DOE’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit […]

Former and current Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have filed an unopposed motion in federal court seeking until Feb. 26 to answer a complaint by a local resident who blames his leukemia on radioactive contamination from the property. The motion, seeking three weeks beyond the original Feb. 5 deadline, was […]

Maria Chappelle-Nadal, the county prosecutor for St. Louis, is running for the Democratic nomination in this year’s race for a House seat representing Missouri’s 1st district and currently held by two-term Rep. Cori. Bush (D). The St. Louis-area district includes the Jana Elementary school that closed in Oct. 2022 after discovery of radioactive contamination from […]

Missouri’s governor requested some $220,000 from the state legislature to oversee the federal government’s cleanup of Manhattan Project waste in the state and help local governments look for more contamination. The money, $221,131 in total, would go to the Radioactive Waste Investigation fund at the Division of Environmental Quality within the state’s Department of Natural […]

Those interested in bidding on a potentially $3 billion contract for Phase 1B remediation work at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state will get an extra week, until March 4, to submit their proposals, the Department of Energy said last week.  In the package of questions and answers released Feb. 1, DOE’s Office of […]

Butte County, Idaho has not shown the Department of Energy’s storage of spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory violates the law, but the county may amend its complaint to preserve its lawsuit, a federal district judge ruled last week. U.S. District Court Judge David Nye on Thursday granted DOE’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit […]

Maria Chappelle-Nadal, the country prosecutor for St. Louis, is running for the Democratic nomination in this year’s race for a House seat representing Missouri’s 1st district and currently held by two-term Rep. Cori. Bush (D). The St. Louis-area district includes the Jana Elementary school that closed in Oct. 2022 after discovery of radioactive contamination from […]

Missouri’s governor requested some $220,000 from the state legislature to oversee the federal government’s cleanup of Manhattan Project waste in the state and help local governments look for more contamination. The money, $221,131 in total, would go to the Radioactive Waste Investigation fund at the Division of Environmental Quality within the state’s Department of Natural […]

Former and current Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have filed an unopposed motion in federal court seeking until Feb. 26 to answer a complaint by a local resident who blames his leukemia on radioactive contamination from the property. The motion, seeking three weeks beyond the original Feb. 5 deadline, was […]

Those interested in bidding on a potentially $3 billion contract for Phase 1B remediation work at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state will get an extra week, until March 4, to submit their proposals, the Department of Energy said last week.  In the package of questions and answers released Feb. 1, DOE’s […]

The portion of Simi Valley where the Santa Susana Field Laboratory cleanup site is located could be subject to flash flooding through Tuesday as a so-called atmospheric river produces unusually heavy rains in Southern California, according to the National Weather Service. It rained heavily over the weekend and there is a 100% chance of rain […]

Butte County, Idaho has not shown the Department of Energy’s storage of spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory violates the law, but the county may amend its complaint to preserve its lawsuit, a federal district judge ruled last week. U.S. District Court Judge David Nye on Thursday granted DOE’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: 06: Meeting: The Hanford Advisory Board holds a hybrid meeting starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Time . The in-person meeting will originate from the Columbia Basin College, Gjerde Center, 2600 N 20th Avenue, Pasco, WA 99301. […]

Although the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup wing awarded two multibillion-dollar environmental deals in 2023, work has not started on any of the four contracts it prioritized for the past calendar year. On paper at least, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management awarded the $45-billion Hanford Site Integrated Tanks contract in Washington state along with the […]

A longtime federal manager, Jimmy “Mac” McMillian, retires Feb. 29 an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina heard Monday. McMillian, a member of senior executive service, has been assistant manager for infrastructure and environmental stewardship for Savannah River’s DOE Environmental Management office since February 2019. The “sad news” […]

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Wednesday confirmed that the Department of Justice is investigating her congressional campaign for allegedly spending campaign funds on a personal security detail. Bush, a progressive lawmaker who has advocated for cleaning up Manhattan Project-era radioactive contamination near her St. Louis-area district and compensating residents affected by it, confirmed the investigation in a […]

Departing officers of an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said this week they are feeling less anxious about the National Nuclear Security Administration taking over the 310-square-mile property on Oct. 1. That’s when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) , a semi-autonomous branch of DOE, is scheduled […]

Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ St. Louis office have made headway in removing contaminated soil from the banks of Coldwater Creek and cleaning up contamination near an elementary school, a Corps spokesperson said by email Tuesday. Contractors for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) program should finish excavating contaminated soil […]

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Wednesday confirmed that the Department of Justice is investigating her congressional campaign for allegedly spending campaign funds on a personal security detail. Bush, a progressive lawmaker who has advocated for cleaning up Manhattan Project-era radioactive contamination near her St. Louis-area district and compensating residents affected by it, confirmed the investigation […]

Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ St. Louis office have made headway in removing contaminated soil from the banks of Coldwater Creek and cleaning up contamination near an elementary school, a Corps spokesperson said by email Tuesday. Contractors for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) program should finish excavating contaminated soil […]

Departing officers of an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said this week they are feeling less anxious about the National Nuclear Security Administration taking over the 310-square-mile property on Oct. 1. That’s when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) , a semi-autonomous branch of DOE, is scheduled […]

A longtime federal manager, Jimmy “Mac” McMillian, retires Feb. 29 an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina heard Monday. McMillian, a member of senior executive service, has been assistant manager for infrastructure and environmental stewardship for Savannah River’s DOE Environmental Management office since February 2019. The “sad news” […]

Before unsealing their case in January, federal prosecutors had for two years investigated whistleblower claims that the landlord contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state fraudulently inflated its labor bills while leaving key fire systems tests undone. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian, appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, granted a motion […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: January 29: Meeting: The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board kicks off a two-day meeting starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time at the Doubletree Hotel, 2651 Perimeter Parkway Augusta, GA. The meetings stream live on YouTube.  […]

The federal prosecutor for Eastern Washington state filed a complaint in federal district court accusing the Department of Energy’s landlord contractor for the Hanford Site of fraudulently padding labor charges for fire safety by millions of dollars. The case against Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS), a joint venture of Leidos, Centerra and Parsons, was announced […]

David Bowen, the top state regulator assigned to the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, has accepted a new job within the Washington Department of Ecology, the state agency said Tuesday. Bowen, who has been with Ecology since 2016 and led the Nuclear Waste Program since December 2020, has been appointed director of the agency’s central […]

A federal judge in East Tennessee granted a request last week by the cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site to delay more proceedings in a COVID-19 lawsuit until a higher court decides if the contractor is shielded from the suit. U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley ruled Jan. 18 that Amentum-led United […]