Top executives for contractors at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state don’t know when staffing will return to normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but said last week changes are being made to protect employee health.
The combined federal and contractor workforce at the nuclear cleanup complex is roughly 11,000, but only 20% to 25% have been allowed inside the fence since March 24. That was the date the Energy Department shifted Hanford to minimum mission essential operations to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus 2019.
In a Thursday memo to employees, Washington River Protection Solutions President and CEO John Eschenberg said personnel who have either been telecommuting or receiving paid leave will spot many changes when they return to the jobsite.
The “visible changes” include reconfiguring WRPS workspaces, along with lunch and conference rooms, to ensure physical distancing guidelines; installing clear barriers at face-to-face interaction areas; and placing floor markings at 6-foot increments, said Eschenberg, whose venture oversees 56 million gallons of underground tank waste at Hanford.
Messages to Hanford workers, some very similar to the one from WRPS, were also posted online Thursday by executives at three other Hanford vendors – Bechtel National, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation, and Mission Support Alliance. The messages were released the day that DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance announced the site would remain at significantly reduced operations at least through the end of this week.
None of them alluded to any specific return to work timelines.
CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation President and CEO Ty Blackford said his company has been talking with DOE, other site contractors, and union officers about “what remobilization could look like.” In the memo, he said ramping operations back up is complex “and will require all of us to be flexible and patient.”
The London Guardian, reported recently that Hanford workers have expressed concerns regarding whether they will be properly protected from spread of the coronavirus when they return to the job.
