Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), whose district includes Augusta, a major bedroom community for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in neighboring South Carolina, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I have been undergoing regular COVID-19 testing and learned today that I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Allen said in a press release posted on his website and on his Twitter feed. “I do not have any symptoms and will continue to work on behalf of the 12th District from home as I quarantine.”
The 310-square-mile Savannah River Site employs about 10,000 federal and contract workers and includes a major liquid-waste cleanup mission helmed by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, and a tritium-harvesting effort for the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear-weapons programs.
Allen was re-elected Nov. 3 to what will be his fourth term representing the district as he took more than 58% of the vote against Democrat Liz Johnson.
Allen becomes the second member of the House of Representatives near a DOE nuclear cleanup site to test positive for COVID-19 in the past couple of weeks.
On Nov. 18, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district includes the Hanford Site, announced he has tested positive for the virus and was experiencing mild symptoms.
