Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
4/25/2014
URS has come under criticism for a lack of cooperation in an investigation now underway into the termination of a nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. The Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office expressed concern over URS’ lack of cooperation in a letter recently sent to DOE management. DOE asked the IG to investigate URS’ decision to terminate Donna Busche, who has alleged she faced retaliation and harassment for raising safety concerns at the Hanford vit plant. Both URS and WTP contractor Bechtel National have denied Busche’s allegations. The IG Office said this week that it had no comment on the investigation, adding, “The letter in question, there’s no plan to release that publicly.” In a brief statement, URS said this week, “We have been cooperating with the Inspector General’s investigation.”
The IG investigation is one of two now underway into URS’ decision in February to terminate Busche, who held the key personnel position of Environmental and Nuclear Safety Manager at the WTP; the Government Accountability Office is also investigating the matter at the request of lawmakers. In testimony before a Senate subcommittee last month, James Taylor, General Manager of URS’ Global Management and Operations Services unit, said Busche was terminated for cause “due to her conduct and behavior.” He went on to say, “It was brought to my attention through our employee concerns program where we had employees that filed complaints against Ms. Busche’s conduct and behavior. We investigated those. We validated those concerns. And I had to make the really hard decision to terminate Ms. Busche.” Both DOE and Bechtel National, the lead contractor at the Hanford vit plant to which URS is a major subcontractor, have said they played no role in URS’ decision.
URS Criticized Previously for Interference
Notably, URS has come under criticism before for interfering with a DOE investigation at the Hanford vit plant. In 2012, officials with DOE’s Office of Health, Safety and Security accused URS management of acting improperly during an investigation into potential nuclear safety noncompliances related to aspects of the WTP’s design. At the time, Busche charged that a senior URS corporate executive sought to prevent her from being interviewed by DOE investigators without her supervisor being present. HSS officials subsequently confirmed the incident and said that URS’ actions appeared to have negatively impacted their office’s investigation. HSS has yet to publicly release the findings of its investigation.
Busche Looks to Drop Lawsuit
Meanwhile, Busche is looking to drop a lawsuit she filed against Bechtel National and URS over her harassment and retaliation allegations. Busche filed her suit in early 2013 after more than a year went by without the Department of Labor taking action on a whistleblower complaint she had submitted. Late last week, though, attorneys for Busche filed a motion to dismiss her suit “with prejudice,” noting that she had filed a second complaint with the Dept. of Labor in November alleging additional acts of retaliation and plans to submit a new complaint following her recent termination from URS.
In a written response this week, Busche said she is looking to drop her lawsuit to “streamline related actions of retaliation and harassment by BNI and URS and consolidate my resources for ongoing investigations.” She said, “The current complaint with the Department of Labor is being updated to include additional actions of harassment and retaliation by BNI and URS since filing the DOL complaint in November of 2013 up to the wrongful termination in February 2014. Once the dismissal is granted, I can focus on the ongoing DOL investigation, ongoing DOE Office of Inspector General investigation, and planned review by the Government Accountability Office into the facts and circumstances of my termination.” Both Bechtel National and URS declined to comment on Busche’s effort to drop her lawsuit this week.
