Valerie McCain, the Bechtel project manager in charge of building the Department of Energy’s multibillion-dollar waste vitrification plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, died unexpectedly, the company announced this week.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Valerie McCain, project director of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant and a Bechtel senior vice president, died Sunday evening after a short illness,” the company said in a statement posted late Monday.
“The entire Vit Plant team mourns this loss,” Bechtel said. “Val was an inspiration to so many people on the project, across the Hanford Site and Bechtel, and in the Tri-Cities community,” Bechtel said.
Bechtel did not release McCain’s age and cause of death, although a family member posted on social media that McCain died of liver cancer after having been diagnosed only a few weeks prior. Her death was first reported Monday evening in the local Tri-City Herald newspaper.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, called McCain “a dear friend” in a brief speech from the House floor, posted Wednesday on youtube. The lawmaker said McCain not only headed the vitrification project but also served on many boards, including the Energy Facility Contractors Group, Tri-City Development Council and an organization seeking to involve young women in sciences, math, engineering, and technology-related fields.
“She was highly respected, exemplified our One Hanford spirit and consistently inspired all who were lucky enough to serve with her,” Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said in an email distributed throughout the Hanford workforce and shared with Exchange Monitor.
McCain, who joined the Waste Treatment Plant as project director in October 2018, had 30 years of industry experience including a stint as project manager at the Uranium Processing Facility Project at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to her online bio. During her career McCain helped oversee a multibillion-dollar project in British Columbia to modernize a 60-year-old aluminum smelter.
At Hanford, McCain oversaw a 2,250-member workforce that built and is commissioning the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Facilities, slated to start converting some of Hanford’s low-level radioactive tank waste into a glass by 2025. Less than a week ago, McCain issued a statement praising plant workers at Hanford for receiving their “highest-ever annual rating for our 2022 performance.”
McCain, named a Bechtel senior vice president in 2020, started her early career working as an environmental scientist and cost engineer.
“Val was an exceptional human being and led the Vit Plant team in achieving some of the most challenging and exciting milestones in the project’s history, ” Bechtel said. “She modeled high integrity, compassion, and drive to make a difference in the world.”
McCain held a bachelor’s degree in biology from the State University of New York.
