IG: DOE Should Use External Reviews in Dispute Resolution With Paducah Regulators

The Department of Energy should implement external reviews to help resolve disputes with regulators at the Paducah site to avoid delays and cost increases for cleanup work, according to a DOE Office of Inspector General report released yesterday. Numerous issues have delayed completion of the C-400 groundwater cleanup project, as well as held back finalizing plans for remediation of Paducah’s burial grounds. Factors include technical challenges along with funding and budget issues, but disagreements with regulators have also caused delays. “Without meaningful progress in resolving disagreements between the Department and its regulators, additional delays are likely to occur,” the report states. “And, additional delays lead directly to the spiraling cost of completing remediation activities at the Paducah Site.”

 

The Department of Energy has entered into dispute resolution numerous times with its Paducah regulators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, as it renegotiates cleanup milestones and sets cleanup plans. The IG recommends implementing independent external peer reviews to aid in the process, which mirrors a 2004 recommendation by the Government Accountability Office that the IG says has not been fully implemented at Paducah. “Even though these disputes have caused significant delays to cleanup projects at the Site, the Department has not taken effective action to engage an independent entity to help resolve disagreements for disputes involving technical cleanup concerns,” the IG states.