Having lost its appeal before a Small Business Administration panel and hoping to retain a $160-million Department of Energy infrastructure support contract for the Paducah Site awarded in December, Swift & Staley has taken its case to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington.
At issue is whether the company was small enough to bid on the contract it won. The Small Business Administration (SBA) said it was not.
So, after SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals issued a decision April 20 that effectively affirmed a size determination the agency made in January, Kentucky-based Swift & Staley filed its suit against the federal government. Most documents were filed under seal on April 23. The company also named Akima Intra-Data in the suit, a firm listed as one of several that attended a pre-bid conference on the Paducah contract in February 2020.
A scheduling order issued by Federal Claims Judge Thompson Dietz on April 28 stipulated all filings in the case should be made by July 2. Oral argument will be scheduled at a later date. The two-page order also said the contracting agency, DOE, has agreed to stay final action on the new contract until Aug. 15.
An SBA spokeswoman disclosed the appeals panel’s decision this week in response to a Weapons Complex Monitor inquiry. The decision was not yet available on the Office of Hearings and Appeals website as of Friday morning, but the spokesperson said this week it would appear online “shortly.”
The Paducah Infrastructure Support Services Contract in dispute is worth $160-million over five years. As the incumbent under a $224-million deal that began in December 2015, Swift & Staley was considered by some the odds-on favorite to retain the landlord services work at the former gaseous diffusion plant.
For now, Swift & Staley remains in place at Paducah. In February, DOE detailed its plan to keep the company on site for an extra year, from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
