The Department of Energy this week suggested it would not push back the deadline for would-be bidders to submit their proposals to build the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
In the request for proposals issued March 22, DOE allowed 46 days for bids to be submitted. Questions on the RFP were due by Thursday of this week.
A second round of questions posted to DOE’s solicitation website on Wednesday all requested some form of rescheduling — either pushing back the proposal deadline to May 25 and/or allowing more time for questions to be submitted.
“This will allow adequate time to obtain firm quotes from the numerous vendors/suppliers required and especially in light of the requirement for significant small business utilization,” according to one question.
To each of the five questions, DOE responded it did not expect to revise the previously scheduled dates: “If DOE decides at a later time to extend the proposal due date, an extension would be accomplished via amendment to the solicitation.”
DOE has indicated it could award the contract by the end of August. In November, DOE said it expects operations to start at the Mercury Treatment Facility in 2022.
An earlier round of 14 questions and answers were posted on the solicitation website on April 6. They cover everything from conflict of interest, to weight limits for dump trucks, to restrictions on used equipment at the facility to be built at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
In response to one question, DOE said it could be a conflict of interest “that cannot be mitigated” for a company to serve as contractor both for the mercury treatment facility and the upcoming Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) cleanup contract. The final determination would be made by the ORR cleanup contracting officer. The posted questions and answers do not provide detail regarding the potential conflict.
The full Oak Ridge cleanup contract could be valued from $2 billion to $5 billion, DOE indicated last month at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Ariz. The RFP for the ORR cleanup could be issued in the second quarter of 2019 and the contract awarded in the second quarter of 2020.
URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) currently has the $2.7 billion environmental remediation contract for Oak Ridge, covering the former gaseous diffusion complex, Y-12, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The pact runs through July 2020.
UCOR will provide technical services support for the mercury treatment plant, and is directly overseeing a subcontractor doing site preparation for the facility.
Other than the usual U.S. Department of Transportation standards, DOE doesn’t enforce weight limits for dump trucks, the department said. The agency added that a stipulation requiring that only “new equipment” be used applies only to components installed at the Mercury Treatment Facility itself, and not construction equipment or vehicles used on-site.
Registrants for Tuesday’s pre-proposal site tour included employees of APTIM Federal Services, Fluor Federal Services, Veolia Nuclear Services, and Atkins, among others.
Mercury contamination has been a major concern at Oak Ridge for decades. During nuclear weapons research work in the 1950s and 1960s, about 2 million pounds of mercury are thought to have been spilled or lost, with about 700,000 pounds of the total ending up in contaminated buildings, soils, and water.
The planned facility would treat mercury-contaminated water that migrates from the Y-12 storm sewer to East Fork Poplar Creek. The facility is also meant as a hedge against further contamination as more old buildings with mercury contamination are torn down.
