Atkins executive Alan Parker has voluntarily withdrawn his name from consideration as a candidate for the position of Energy Department assistant secretary for environmental management, industry sources said.
Parker, president and project manager for the Atkins-led DOE contractor Mid-America Conversion Services, was reported in July to be on the White House’s list of potential nominees. But, for personal reasons, he asked to be taken out of the mix, two sources told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
Parker could not be reached for comment. The White House and Energy Department had not responded by deadline to requests for an update on the effort to fill the “EM-1” position.
It was not immediately clear who now is still being considered to lead the roughly $6 billion annual cleanup of DOE’s nuclear legacy, or when a nomination might be made. The name most publicly linked to the job in recent months was John “Rick” Dearholt, a former DOE contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. Dearholt in March acknowledged he was in the running, but one source said last week he would not be selected.
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has not had a permanent assistant secretary since Obama-era appointee Monica Regalbuto stepped down following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Longtime EM hand Sue Cange took over on an acting basis, then was replaced in June by DOE veteran James Owendoff.
One source said the administration does not appear to have a candidate ready for nomination, and that Owendoff would remain in the position for the foreseeable future.
As with other Cabinet agencies, the Trump administration has been slow to fill in top spots at DOE. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was sworn into office on March 2, but it took five months for his deputy, Dan Brouillette, to come on-board. Two energy undersecretary nominees are waiting on Senate confirmation. The administration might then move on to assistant secretaries.
There has been no change in the view that former DOE and National Security Council official Lisa Gordon-Hagerty remains in line to be nominated to lead DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, one source noted. Obama holdover Frank Klotz has remained on as head of the agency tasked with sustaining the U.S. nuclear deterrent.
Some significant decisions at DOE are taking longer than usual due to the slow pace of appointments to high-ranking posts at the department, Louis Centofanti, president and CEO of Perma-Fix Environmental Services, said last week during his company’s quarterly earnings call. He indicated this affects both environmental cleanup business awards and approval of certain new Perma-Fix technology.
“It’s hard for the department to make major decisions without guidance,” Centofanti said. The Perma-Fix CEO said he hopes the pace of Trump administration appointments at DOE is picking up.
