WASHINGTON, D.C. – Timothy Walsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management, or EM-1, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday his military and business background has prepared him to lead the world’s largest nuclear cleanup.
An Army veteran and company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division who served in Operation Desert Shield, Walsh holds degrees from West Point and Stanford University. Walsh founded Confluence Builders, a real estate development company in Colorado.
“I am a fast learner,” Walsh said when asked by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) how his background prepared him for overseeing cleanup of 56 million gallons of radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in her state.
Citing his written testimony, Walsh said while in the construction business, he helped develop advanced technology facilities for the semiconductor industry. Such complex projects taught him the value of coordinating with those with the needed expertise.
Under questioning from Cantwell, Walsh also pledged to uphold the Tri-Party Agreement government cleanup at Hanford, the former plutonium production complex.
“I’ve always had an intellectual curiosity of sciences and building,” Walsh said in his testimony.
Walsh also assured Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who is the ranking member, if confirmed he would prioritize refurbishment of shafts that provide emergency escapeways at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
“I recognize the significance of Environmental Management’s mission, and the responsibility of addressing the legacies of the Manhattan Project and Cold War nuclear weapons development is enormous,” Walsh said in his testimony.
“Living only 16 miles south of the Rocky Flats in Colorado, I understand the impact these sites have on a community,” Walsh said.
Walsh, who was nominated by Trump in March, was one of four DOE and Interior Department nominees who appeared before the committee at the Wednesday hearing.
A committee vote on the nominees could come as soon as next week, committee officials said after the hearing.
