Although details are being kept under wraps by a protective order, the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Friday sustained a protest brought by one losing bidding team against a $4.7 billion contract the Department of Energy awarded in October for liquid waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
The GAO indicated it has sustained the protest filed by a team of AECOM and CH2M on Oct. 31, as well as supplemental protests filed by the same parties in the following weeks. The protest from a Fluor-Westinghouse team was denied, according to GAO spokesman Charles Young. The end result could be the same, however, if Fluor-Westinghouse is included in any resulting re-evaluation of the contract.
The protective order means some sensitive information in the decision “may require redaction before public release,” the GAO said. The redaction process could take two to three weeks, according to standard language on the agency’s website.
Savannah River EcoManagement, a joint venture comprised of BWXT Technical Services Group, Bechtel National, and Honeywell International, was awarded the 10-year contract on Oct. 12. The two other bidders –Fluor Westinghouse Liquid Waste Services and Savannah River Technology and Remediation, which is a joint venture of AECOM and CH2M – that month filed protests with the GAO.
BWXT and Bechtel partner with CH2M in the AECOM-led liquid waste incumbent, Savannah River Remediation. The incumbent remains on the job on an interim basis through the end of May .
GAO Managing Associate General Counsel for Procurement Law Kenneth Patton did release some details in a statement: “GAO sustained, or upheld, the protest, finding that DOE did not evaluate the viability of [Savannah River EcoManagement’s] proposed technical solution to providing the services. GAO recommended that the agency determine whether it was necessary to reopen negotiations in connection with the acquisition, and also to reevaluate proposals, whether or not negotiations are reopened.”
The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management, which oversees cleanup at Savannah River, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
Most of the companies involved in the case declined to comment for the record Friday morning, saying they didn’t know much more than what was posted on the GAO website.
AECOM did issue a statement: “We are pleased that the GAO has sustained our protest, and look forward to DOE implementing corrective actions consistent with the GAO’s recommendations. “
The contract involves operation of facilities for storage, treatment, and disposal of about 35 million gallons of Cold War-era liquid waste at Savannah River.
