Ben Harp, a Department of Energy manager for several years, has been appointed as an acting senior adviser at the $7.6-million Office of Environmental Management.
Harp, a former deputy manager at the Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is listed on the latest DOE Environmental Management (EM) organization chart published Thursday Feb. 10.
Harp joined DOE in 1991 and during his time there was also assistant manager for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project startup at Hanford, according to an agency biography.
Harp is slotted between the vacant chief strategist position, previously held by current chief of staff Mike Nartker, and the policy office for the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. All three of those boxes report to principal deputy assistant secretary Todd Shrader, who is EM’s second in command under senior adviser William (Ike) White. White has officially been the top boss at Environmental Management since June 2019.
Effective Feb. 13, Harp is responsible for providing support to Shrader’s office on a range of operational, regulatory, and policy issues, according to a DOE spokesperson. Brian Stickney, deputy manager for the Richland Operations Office will temporarily serve as deputy manager for both River Protection and the Richland Office until Harp’s return, the spokesperson said in an email.
Not currently listed in the EM org chart is Randall Hendrickson who a year ago became the deputy chief of corporate services reporting to Dae Chung. Hendrickson, a 30-year Navy veteran who retired as a Rear Admiral went on to hold senior positions at DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Hendrickson is taking on another EM post , becoming a senior adviser Nicole Nelson-Jean, who heads the Office of Field Operations, the DOE spokesperson said Monday via email.
In 2018 Hendrickson became the department’s deputy chief financial Officer, a position he served in until early 2021 when he joined Environmental Management in his current role as the deputy for corporate services, White said in a staff email viewed by Weapons Complex Monitor.
Rick Khan will also move to the Field Operations organization, supporting Hendrickson as the senior manager for special projects, according to the personnel announcement. Khan joined Environmental Management in 1992 and is currently a senior adviser with the Office of Regulatory and Policy Affairs.