The Department of Energy is allowing an extra two weeks for submission of bids to build the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
A new amendment to the request for proposals, among other things, extends the deadline for submission to 3 p.m. Eastern time on May 21. The agency also said last week proposals should no longer be submitted through the FedConnect website.
Previously, DOE had indicated it would not give bidders an extension beyond the original May 7 deadline.
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management said on April 24 it doesn’t expect to make any additional revisions to the RFP. That same day DOE posted what it expects will be the last round of questions and answers on the document. At least one unidentified industry questioner was still pushing for a filing extension to May 25. The RFP was issued March 22.
The Energy Department has previously indicated it could award a contract, potentially worth $250 million, by the end of August, with an eye toward starting operation of the Mercury Treatment Facility in 2022.
The plant would treat contaminated water that makes its way from the storm sewer at the Y-12 National Security Complex to East Fork Poplar Creek. It would also put Y-12 and the Oak Ridge Site in a better position to deal with additional contamination expected as other mercury-contaminated buildings are dismantled in the coming years.
Mercury contamination has been a big deal at Oak Ridge for decades, resulting from nuclear weapons research in the 1950s and 1960s. Over time, an estimated 700,000 pounds of mercury are believed to have ended up in contaminated buildings, soils, and water at Oak Ridge, DOE has said.
