Parties fighting over a $45-billion Department of Energy radioactive tank waste cleanup contract at the Hanford Site in Washington say there is a good chance of ending up back before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and, with that in mind, want the judge to hang onto key records.
The parties made the motion in a redacted motion Thursday. Plaintiff Hanford Task Disposition Alliance is the losing joint venture, comprising Atkins, Jacobs and Westinghouse. Defendant-intervenor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure is the winning team, made up of BWX Technologies, Amentum and Fluor.
“The likelihood of continued protest activity following the DOE’s corrective action remains high,” so Judge Marian Blank Horn should not allow destruction of certain records within 30 days, as a clause in an early protective order in the case would otherwise mandate, the parties said.
“Given this likelihood, destruction of all protected material would result in significant waste and inefficiency,” the parties said. The protected material includes “significant work product” by the parties, according to the motion. “If such material were to be destroyed and, as anticipated, either party were to protest the DOE’s new award decision,” the legal teams would need to “recreate this work product at considerable expense.”
Judge Horn set aside the DOE Integrated Tank Contract awarded to BWXT-led Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure. Earlier this month, the court made public a copy of Horn’s order, initially issued under seal, sending the case back to DOE for reconsideration of how to proceed.
Nevertheless, the judge acknowledged either side might well challenge any subsequent DOE decision, and end up back in Judge Horn’s court.
Judge Horn found the award improper because the winner failed to remain continuously registered with a federal procurement tracking system. The BWXT-led contract winner, however, said its rival at one point filed misleading information about Atkins’ ownership, which is Canada-based SNC-Lavalin.
