The Energy Department plans to extend a sole-source task order so contractor CDM can generate additional reports on the cleanup of the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California.
The agency announced its intention to keep CDM on the job through the end of the year in a Wednesday posting in the Federal Business Opportunities website. The firm’s current deal would otherwise expire March 31, but DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said the nine-month extension should not increase the current task order value of about $32.4 million.
CDM Smith, as the company is also known, provided groundwater analysis, sampling, and reports that figured prominently in DOE’s final environmental impact statement (EIS) for cleanup of Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone at Santa Susana. Although the EIS was published in December, the Energy Department must still respond to comments and prepare one or more records of decision detailing plans for the federal environmental remediation. The ROD will draw in part upon CDM research and analysis.
The EIS addresses about 470 acres within the 2,850-acre SSFL property in Ventura County where the Energy Department conducted research on nuclear power and liquid metal technology. Boeing and NASA control the rest of the property. The Energy Department and the other two entities are responsible for remediation of chemical and radioactive contamination at Santa Susana, under supervision of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Due to delays caused by “the complexities at ETEC,” the EIS process took longer than expected, the Energy Department said in documents explaining the reasons for keeping CDM on without a competitive bid. No other sources currently have the knowledge, familiarity with the subject, and relationships needed to finish the SSFL documents, DOE said. While another contractor could conceivably do the work, it would take additional time for the vendor to get up to speed.
The Energy Department action is the latest amendment to a fall 2012 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task order issued to CDM at a value of over $11 million, which has grown to more than $32 million.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control asked DOE to take comments on the final EIS until March 1 before any record of decision is published. The Energy Department has not set up a formal public comment period, but that does not prevent the public from providing input to the federal agency, DTSC spokesman Russ Edmondson said Wednesday.
California has criticized the EIS plan, saying it does live up to a 2010 agreement between the state and federal agencies. The 2010 administrative order on consent describes the process of cleanup for the site that will protect adjoining communities.
However, the state says the Energy Department EIS would leave most contaminated soil in place rather than returning all soil to background contamination levels. The DOE approach focuses on cleaning up chemical and radioactive hot spots. It would remove 38,000 cubic yards of soil, rather than several times that amount, including much soil which the federal agency says does not need remediation.
