With litigation on a controversial contract award two years ago still ongoing, the Department of Energy has extended incumbent Swift & Staley as the landlord services provider at the Paducah Site in Kentucky through February, a spokesperson confirmed via email this week.
Without the extension, first revealed in a U.S. Court of Federal Claims order, Swift Staley’s ongoing contract valued at $267 million, would have expired Dec. 31, according to a DOE contract chart updated about a month ago.
Litigation on whether Kentucky-based Swift & Staley is too large to qualify for the potential three-year, $160-million Paducah Infrastructure Support Services Contract set-aside for small businesses is still playing out before U.S. Federal Claim Judge Thompson Dietz.
The case, which involves rival bidder Akima Intra-Data, entered a new phase in November after a Small Business Administration (SBA) panel ruled for the second time in six months that Swift & Staley is too large given its stake in the North Wind-led Portsmouth Mission Alliance, the incumbent services provider at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio.
In September, Dietz sent the case back to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals for reconsideration. The vast majority of the filings in the Federal Claims Court litigation have been made under seal and therefore are not publicly available. The judge has called for parties to file all motions by the end of January.
The services provider acts as something of a city manager for the DOE site, providing everything from recordkeeping and property management to safeguards and security.
