HANFORD TANK FARM FURLOUGHS STILL NECESSARY, WRPS HEAD SAYS

Furloughs will still be necessary at the Hanford tank farms even as the Department of Energy works to address budgetary issues by shifting funds among cleanup projects and sites, according to Washington River Protections Solutions President and Project Manager Mike Johnson. As a result of sequestration, WRPS’ funding for the remainder of this fiscal year was cut by approximately $40 million, which resulted in the contractor moving to implement approximately five weeks of furloughs and layoffs of up to 125 employees. In its reprogramming request, sent to Congress late last week, DOE is looking to increase funding for tank farms activities at Hanford by approximately $48 million by shifting funds from the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The sought-after funding, though, is “about risk reduction,” Johnson told WC Monitor yesterday on the sidelines of a House Cleanup Caucus briefing on DOE’s Office of River Protection. “So I’ll call whoever I need to do risk reduction. If they have to come in from furlough, then that’s it,” he said, adding, “Reprogramming is not to buy off furloughs. That’s not the purpose of it. The purpose of it is for us to get after the risk reductions in the tank farms.”