Letter to The Honorable James A. Rispoli, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Managernent, U.S. Department of Energy

Letter

Letter to The Honorable James A. Rispoli, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Managernent, U.S. Department of Energy

Murray, Hastings Press DOE for Answers on Hanford Mission Support Contract

Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Doc Hastings are urging the Department of Energy to provide information about the path forward on Hanford's Mission Support contract. In a letter sent today to DOE Assistant Secretary James Rispoli, the lawmakers requested that the DOE make public details about the timing of the Mission Support contract award and potential impacts on cleanup.

"Our Hanford workers and the local community deserve to have a clear view of what the future holds instead of being left to guess. We encourage DOE to come forward with the details and answers this community deserves," Senator Murray said.

"Rather than leaving everyone to speculate on why DOE changed their plan to award the Mission Support contract first and what it means, it'd be very helpful for DOE to simply explain what they're doing and when they intend to award the contract," said Hastings.

The Honorable James A. Rispoli
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Managernent
U.S. Department of Energy
Forrestal Building
Room 5A-014
Washington, D.C. 20585

Dear Assistant Secretary Rispoli:

We are writing concerning the pending award of the Mission Support contract (MSC) at Hanford.

The last official announcement from the Department on the timing of the award of the MSC contract was that it would be awarded prior to award of the Tank Operations contract and the Central Plateau contract. However, both of these two contracts have now been awarded with no official word from the Department on why the order of award was changed or, more importantly, when the MSC contract award is expected to be made.

As you can imagine, with three new contacts being awarded at Hanford there are questions and concems about what the changes will mean. These questions have been amplified by the Department's actions to depart from previously announced plans and award the MSC contract last.

A public statement from the Department about what prompted the decision to change the order of the contract awards, any potential impacts the decision could have on cleanup, and what to expect regarding the timing of the Mission Support contract award would be very helpful. As the MSC contract will be responsible for management of workforce benefits and coordinating
services among all site contractors, details about steps the Department is taking to ensure smooth transitions will take place as each of these three contracts are implemented would also be helpful.

As you know we have no role in selecting contract winners, rather our concern has always been the impact federal policies and decisions on the local community, the Hanford workforce and cleanup progress. It is for these reasons that we are asking and encouraglng the Department to provide more information on its actions, intentions and plans. Such information would be very helpful to Hanford workers and to the local community.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

United States Representative United States Senator

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