UTAH CONGRESSMAN QUESTIONS NEW ‘SEASONAL’ APPROACH FOR MOAB CLEANUP

Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) called on the Department of Energy yesterday to justify its new approach for the Moab uranium mill tailings project that will entail workers only being employed on the project for a portion of each year. DOE and new Moab cleanup contractor Portage plan to implement a new approach for the project that will result in work being largely curtailed for three months during the winter each year, with Moab workers transferred to other jobs with Portage’s partner companies on the new Moab cleanup contract or laid off and rehired when work resumes. DOE has said the new approach is largely tied to funding issues, but in a letter to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Matheson questioned whether it’s the best use of available money. “The Administration’s decision to use a seasonal work schedule is not an efficient way to manage taxpayer dollars,” he wrote.