Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project contractor Portage Inc. earned 84 percent of its potential award fee for fiscal 2015, the Department of Energy said on Thursday. The $1.26 million fee came with a rating of “very good” for the year.
The department’s Office of Environmental Management particularly lauded Portage’s work in recovering from a November 2014 rock slide that slowed work and increased expenses at the project near the Colorado River in Utah. “The contractor worked expeditiously to respond to the rockslide and to progressively and safely return to full train shipments of uranium mill tailings for disposal,” according to an EM press release. “Although Portage faced numerous challenges and work adjustments due to the rockslide, the contractor safely shipped and disposed 600,725 tons of the tailings. Portage completed the award fee period with no Occupational Safety and Health Administration-recordable injuries or illnesses.”
This was Portage’s fourth year in the contract to relocate about 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings from a onetime uranium ore processing site and deposit the material about 30 miles away.
For fiscal 2014, the company earned $1.065 million, about 76 percent of the available fee, and for fiscal 2013 it collected $1.1 million, 96 percent of the possible award fee.
The overall award fee rating of “very good” was broken down into “good” for project management; “excellent” for tailings excavation, haul, and disposal; and very good for health and safety.
The full scorecard can be found here.
