CBFO Manager Joe Franco to Take Senior Post at DOE Richland
Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
4/10/2015
With the announcement this week that Joe Franco is stepping down as Manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office for a senior position at DOE’s Richland Operations Office, officials said that a replacement would need to maintain the trust Franco has built during DOE’s effort to reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Franco, a Carlsbad, N.M., native, largely had the support of community leaders following last year’s incidents at WIPP at a time when DOE headquarters was criticized by New Mexico officials for a lack of communication. “The community has always appreciated him, he has been very open. He is active at the town hall meetings, he comes to our task force meetings on a regular basis. He gives us open, frank and transparent answers to questions,” John Heaton, Chair of the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force, told WC Monitor this week. “He will be very much missed in the community.”
Due to “a variety of personal reasons,” Franco is leaving the Carlsbad Field Office, acting DOE cleanup chief Mark Whitney said in a message to employees this week, going on to say, “I want to thank Joe for his unwavering commitment to the essential mission of WIPP, to his workforce, and to the Carlsbad community.” Franco has served as Manager of the Carlsbad Field Office since the fall of 2011, and is no stranger to Hanford, having previously served as Assistant Manager for the River Corridor at the Richland office.
Rep. Pearce: Community Coordination Very Important
Franco was “deeply engaged” with the community and “had a sense of trust,” Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), whose district includes Carlsbad, told WC Monitor this week. “I’m sure that we’ll get an opportunity for input as they move into new management, but the cooperation and the transparency and the trust of the community is what we’ll have to look for the most,” Pearce said, noting that local support for WIPP is crucial for the facility. “Not every community would do that. The coordination with the community is very important,” he said.
Could CBFO Deputy Dana Bryson Move Up to Manager?
Heaton said that he would support the appointment of Dana Bryson, the deputy manager for CBFO, to become the office’s next manager. “There’s a lot to know and consume. Dana’s been well poised to step in,” Heaton said. Bryson came to his current position in December 2013 after holding senior positions at Richland. “WIPP is very unique. It’s a repository, it’s a mine. It’s very difficult to find anybody who has any mining experience or knows anything about it, repository management and the intricacies of balancing the mining with the radiological activities,” Heaton said. “Dana Bryson is a bright guy, an engineer. He has been here for some time now. He understands the mining aspects, he understands the recovery process. From my perspective it would be very apropos to put him in that position.”
Exact Timing of Franco’s Departure Still In The Works
The exact timing of Franco’s departure is unclear. DOE plans to publicly post the position of Carlsbad Field Office manager for competition, and “Joe will continue to support the Carlsbad Field Office to ensure a smooth transition to a new Manager,” Whitney said in his message. At the Richland Operations Office, Franco will hold the position of Assistant Manager for Mission Support, currently held by Karen Flynn, who will move to the new position of “DOE Hanford Senior Manager” responsible for planning the next set of Hanford cleanup contracts to replace those set to expire in the 2017 to 2019 timeframe, according to Whitney’s message.
