The Government Accountability Office dismissed a bid protest over a $137 million consolidated technical support contract at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office because the award is being reconsidered.
That is according to the Aug. 17 decision document issued by the GAO after Albuquerque, N.M.-based Strategic Management Solutions protested the June contract award to a subsidiary of Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve).
The GAO document, obtained by Weapons Complex Monitor, confirms the reasoning sources cited Tuesday for the dismissal of the protest.
“We dismiss the protest because the agency has decided to take corrective action by making a new source selection decision” and possibly take other “corrective action” needed to address issues raised in the contract protest, according to the document signed by GAO General Counsel Thomas Armstrong.
The Energy Department wants a single technical support services contract to cover the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup site in Ohio, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup site in Kentucky, and PPPO headquarters in Lexington, Ky. The work is now covered by three separate contracts.
The agency awarded the consolidated work to Enterprise Technical Assistance Services (ETAS). Strategic Management “argues that the agency’s evaluation of ETAS’s proposals, including organizational conflicts of interest, and resulting award decision were improper,” according to the GAO.
Details of the reopened procurement were not immediately available. The Energy Department cannot publicly comment on specific details regarding the process, a spokesperson said Tuesday. There were seven bid proposals for the initial solicitation.
Two sources contacted this week wouldn’t speculate on what DOE’s next move will be on the consolidated contract procurement.
Currently, RSI EnTech has a $51 million contract for technical support services at Portsmouth, Pro2Servce has a $51 million contract for Paducah, and SMSI has a $45 million contract for services at the Lexington offices and depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion within the PPPO complex.
The Energy Department has already said it intends to extend the current Pro2Service contract by up to six months, through March 31, 2019. The full extension would be worth between $3.5 million and $4.5 million.
A similar six month addition was proposed by DOE this month at Portsmouth for RSI Entech, which would be worth between $5 million and $6 million. Likewise, a six month extension was proposed for Strategic Management’s PPPO contract, which is also worth between $5 million and $6 million.
