The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management is taking resumes for the permanent job of managing the Hanford Site in Washington state, a post currently held by Brian Vance.
In addition, Environmental Management soon seek applicants to replace Jeff Griffin, the associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, who is leaving DOE to join a nuclear research institution in Canada.
The agency on Tuesday formally invited expressions of interest for the job of overseeing both the Richland Operations Office and Office of River Protection (ORP) at Hanford, the sprawling complex that made plutonium for the military during the Manhattan Project and the Cold War.
Candidates for the job should send a resume by March 10 to Julie Dock, executive consultant with the DOE Office of Corporate Executive Management, at [email protected].
Vance is serving a three-year term-limited appointment that expires in November, sources said this week. It is routine for DOE to invite expression of interest as part of an open competition for Senior Executive Service jobs. “Brian is one of EM’s most capable executives and he continues to do a superb job at managing one of EM’s highest priority cleanup sites,” an agency spokesperson said in a Wednesday email.
Vance joined DOE in 2017 and previously worked in management positions with Westinghouse Electric and AREVA. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for 25 years.
After seven years as a private sector executive, Vance became manager of the DOE Office of River Protection in October 2017 and then took over both offices on an acting basis in February 2019 with the retirement of Richland Operations Manager Doug Shoop. In October 2019, then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry told Congress the Hanford Site would go forward with a single manager, Vance, for both offices.
One source in Washington state, who likes the job Vance has done at Hanford, heard he is seeking the job on a permanent basis. The position pays between $172,000 and $197,000 annually, according to an advertisement for the slot.
Hanford is considered the federal government’s most contaminated site, requiring the most money and work to remediate. Recent DOE projections don’t envision complete cleanup prior to 2070. The winning candidate will oversee the 586-square mile site with a budget upward of $2 billion.
The Office of River Protection has responsibility for management of 56 million gallons of liquid waste held in 177 underground tanks. The Richland Operations Office oversees contractors doing cleanup for the River Corridor and Central Plateau areas at Hanford.
The Energy Department has pledged to keep the two separate offices although they now report to one manager.
The Hanford manager is responsible for strategic plans, policy, overseeing Hanford radioactive waste tanks, managing staff, and other duties, such as ensuring cleanup compliance with milestones under the Tri-Party Agreement between DOE, Washington state, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Field Operations Boss for Cleanup Heads North
Griffin, who leads field operations at the Office of Environmental Management, is leaving to take a post with the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ontario.
Griffin’s departure, effective March 11, was announced in an email sent to EM staff Tuesday from Environmental Management Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader. The email did not say what Griffin’s role will be at the Canadian research facility.
Griffin has overseen EM’s 16 field sites since November 2018, brought in under then-DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White. In his current post, Griffin worked with the field sites on issues ranging from waste management and disposal to decommissioning and demolition of old facilities.
Prior to joining the nuclear cleanup office, Griffin spent about a decade as associate director for environmental management at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina.
The agency plans to compete the EM-3 job over the next few months, while Candice Robertson temporarily acts as the head of field operations, according to the Shrader email obtained by Weapons Complex Monitor.
Earlier this month, the office said Robertson was rejoining the office in the newly created job of senior site liaison coordinator for field operations. She will manage both jobs in the interim, according to Shrader. Robertson worked as chief human capital officer for DOE for about two years and prior to that served in a couple different management jobs at the nuclear cleanup branch.
