Joe Franco, the Department of Energy’s deputy manager at the Hanford Site’s Richland Operations Office in Washington state, is leaving the agency to take another job.
Tuesday was the “farewell” day at Richland for Franco, Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said during his update Wednesday to the Hanford Advisory Committee.
Franco has been a DOE senior executive at Hanford for more than 14 years. He is also a former manager at DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office worked in the nuclear industry for many years, including various posts at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant contractor Washington TRU Solutions, according to his federal and LinkedIn profiles. Washington TRU was led by a predecessor company to what is today Amentum.
“Joe Franco has decided to pursue opportunities outside of our department,” Vance said during the online meeting. “We wish him well. He will certainly be missed.” Vance did not say where Franco is bound.
Stepping in as deputy manager on an acting basis will be longtime federal manager, Brian Stickney, Vance said. Stickney has been with the Department of Energy for almost 12 years, spending the last two as assistant manager of safety and environment at Hanford, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A West Point graduate, Stickney also spent about a decade in the U.S. Army, where among other posts, he was a battalion rear detachment commander based in Germany.
It is likely to be several months before a permanent deputy manager is hired for the Hanford Richland Operations Office, Vance said.
Also Wednesday, the Hanford Advisory Board heard what is perhaps its last presentation from Alex Smith as head of the nuclear waste cleanup program at the Washington state Department of Ecology. Smith, an attorney, said recently she is leaving Ecology to accept a post with the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Her last day is Oct. 31 and she expects Ecology will be close to picking a successor by then.
Smith said Ecology, the DOE Office of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency are continuing “holistic” talks into a slew of issues regarding the tank waste mission at Hanford. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is working with the parties to bridge their differences, and the players have agreed not to divulge specifics about the talks, she said.
