DOE Silent on Latest LM Support Contract Extension for Stoller

S.M. Stoller appears set to continue to serve as the support services contractor for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management as DOE’s long-running search for a follow-on contractor continues to drag on with no end in sight, but for how long is unclear. Stoller’s most recent contract extension came to an end yesterday, on Sept. 30, but DOE did not return calls for comment seeking information on the Department’s plan for a new extension. Stoller’s contract was initially set to expire in September 2012, but it has received a number of extensions while DOE has sought to compete and award the follow-on contract.

Stoller was unable to lead a bid of its own for the new contract because it no longer met the size standard for the small business procurement, and instead had joined a team led by Wastren Advantage. DOE initially awarded the new LM support services contract to Portage last April, leading to challenges from Navarro Research and Engineering and the team of WAI-Stoller. In response, DOE chose last May to take corrective action by re-evaluating all eight bids, and then chose again early this year to award the new contract to Portage. Both Navarro and the WAI-Stoller team again protested DOE’s decision, and this spring the GAO sustained Navarro’s protest but denied WAI-Stoller’s. Since then, DOE has been engaged in a third evaluation of the eight bids submitted for the new contract, with the proposals now set to expire at the end of October. DOE did not respond when asked yesterday about an estimated time frame for making a new award decision for the follow-on contract.