A newly updated organizational chart suggests the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has made further changes to its leadership hierarchy.
Angela Watmore as of June 1 is listed as an acting chief of staff and senior adviser within DOE’s nuclear cleanup branch. The slot was described as “vacant” in an April 19 version of the same chart.
Watmore’s LinkedIn profile describes her as a strategist and turnaround manager, who has served a couple stints with DOE, in management or advisory roles, most recently starting in 2015. It was unclear when she became acting chief of staff.
From 2007 through 2011, Watmore advised the Environmental Management (EM) office on acquisition and contracting. She has worked in the energy, aerospace, and national security sectors, and has held management posts with companies including Boeing and the Shaw Group.
Three industry sources contacted in recent days said they didn’t know much about Watmore.
Meanwhile, a senior adviser for environmental management, Roger Jarrell, has left DOE to accept a position with the prime contractor for cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) spokeswoman Ashley Hartman confirmed by email Monday Jarrell has agreed to manage the company’s government and stakeholder interface. His last day at DOE was June 15, said one of two industry sources who had heard of Jarrell’s departure.
A third industry source reached by telephone Monday said Jarrell’s departure would not be a surprise. Jarrell was a Trump administration political appointment on the “landing team” for the transition at the Energy Department. With Anne Marie White now confirmed as assistant secretary for environmental management, it’s logical Jarrell would move on, the third source said. Before coming to DOE in May 2017, he was a legislative aide for U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and had also worked as a political consultant.
Jarrell had in essence been acting as a temporary chief of staff for most of his tenure at Environmental Management, the third source said. One of the other two industry sources agreed Jarrell didn’t come to DOE for the long term, adding political appointees often don’t stay longer than 18 months in federal agencies.
Watmore is not the only new appointment to top management in the cleanup office since White became “EM-1.” In late May, White announced Energy Department veteran Ken Picha would take over as acting EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations. The post was previously held on an acting basis by Dae Chung, who returned to his job as head of the EM special projects office.
“She is moving decisively, I would say, to put her imprint on the program,” including its leadership team, the third industry source said of White.
An EM spokesperson indicated the office would not comment on personnel matters.
