A joint venture of Perma-Fix Environmental Services and ERRG in December sealed a contract worth at least $15 million for cleanup services at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
The 18-month contract covers remediation, construction, and waste management at the Alameda County complex, according to a Dec. 23 press release from Perma-Fix. It could be expanded to provide $20 million in revenue.
“The work involves demolition of some existing structures, remediation of some existing contamination, and construction of some new support underground utilities,” Joe Morgan, project manager for the lab’s Project and Infrastructure Modernization Division, said by email. “More news will be forthcoming in the new year on the potential extension of the contract.”
Three vendors bid for the contract, according to Morgan. The deal with the Perma-Fix-ERRG partnership was signed on Dec. 13.
Perma-Fix, a waste management specialist based in Atlanta, said it has worked with ERRG on prior projects. A spokesman did not respond to a query regarding the latest win.
“This award further increases our funded backlog and bolsters our Services Segment revenues beginning in the first quarter of 2020,” Perma-Fix President and CEO Mark Duff said in the release. ”The Perma-Fix/ERRG JV was able to leverage our recent experience conducting complex remediation and demolition in radiological environments with potential for additional expansion as the project evolves. This win builds on our momentum established over the last two quarters to position Perma-Fix for continued growth in our Services Segment.”
Perma-Fix was the contractor for demolition of Building 51, former home to the Bevatron particle accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley. Its other work for the Energy Department includes the ongoing remediation of a cesium-137 spill at a research facility for the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has picked a state lawyer to lead the Washington Department of Ecology.
Laura Watson succeeds Maia Bellon, who announced her retirement on Dec. 2 after leading the state agency since 2013.
The Department of Ecology, through its Nuclear Waste Program, regulates commercial and government nuclear facilities in the state, including the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.
Watson “has a deep understanding of the crucial work Ecology does statewide and was at the center of some of the most important issues in recent years,” Inslee said in a Dec. 20 press release.
For the past five years, Watson served as the senior assistant attorney general in the Ecology Division of the state Attorney General’s Office. She has advised the state on a long list of legal issues, including cleanup at Hanford, toxics reduction strategies, and protection of the State’s Clean Water Act authority against the federal government, according to the news release.
While Watson was senior assistant attorney general, her duties included acting as legal counsel for the Department of Ecology, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Altogether, Watson has been an attorney for the state of Washington for more than 20 years, having also served as a deputy solicitor general and an assistant attorney general.
Bellon was the longest-serving Ecology director in Washington state history. She stepped down from the director position on Tuesday. Longtime Ecology Deputy Director Polly Zehm is also retiring at the end of January.
From the Wires
From the BBC: Congress demands probe of the state of a nuclear waste storage site on the Marshall Islands.
From The Associated Press: Japan is delaying some critical measures in remediation of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
From Political Lore: Sweden permanently retires its Ringhals 2 nuclear power reactor.
