WC Monitor
3/6/2015
IN CONGRESS
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said this week that she will not seek re-election in 2016, opening up the top Democratic slot on the powerful spending panel. Mikulski, 78, has spent the last 30 years in the Senate, becoming chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2012. She lost the chairmanship last year when Republicans took control of the upper chamber, but she remained the ranking member, and her departure is sure to shuffle leadership on the committee. “This has been a hard decision to make,” Mikulski said during a press conference. “There’s no health problem. I’m not frustrated with the Senate.”
IN DOE
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in Oak Ridge has named four new members — Leon Baker, Richard Burroughs, Terri Likens and Ed Trujillo — to its environmental advisory board. Baker, a former health physics tech with DeNuke, is a logistics coordinator with DOW Chemical. Burroughs is chief of staff in the Anderson County mayor’s office. Likens is editor of the newspaper Roane County News. Trujillo is retired engineer from Bechtel Corp.
IN THE INDUSTRY
Ty Blackford had been named tank closure and regulatory director at Savannah River Remediation, the liquid waste contractor for the Savannah River Site. He will leave his position as vice president of decommissioning, waste, fuels and remediation services for CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. at Hanford April 9. No decision has been made about his replacement there. Blackford has more than 20 years of experience at Hanford. “His vast experience and expertise supported many cleanup milestones,” said CHPRC President John Ciucci. As one of the original vice presidents at CHPRC, Blackford played a strong strategic and leadership role for CHPRC, Ciucci said.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, is conducting market research to identify companies, preferably small businesses, for a set of three new subcontracts. SRNS is seeking expressions of interest by March 23 for subcontracts to cover materials management and distribution; records management; and fire protection and emergency services, according to notices issued this week. SRNS plans to use the expressions of interest to develop lists of companies to receive Request for Proposals for each of the three planned subcontracts. “SRNS will use its best judgment when determining which interested parties should receive any follow-on request for proposal, and the selection of the parties to receive a potential request for proposal will not be based on any set of objective criteria. The basis for award of any follow-on request for proposal will be best value,” the notices state.
