Workers from CH2M subcontractor Stillwater drill a groundwater well in the Hanford Site’s 100-N Area.
Small businesses contribute greatly to the success of cleanup and help upgrade and right-size the Hanford Site’s infrastructure. Here, Jared Janosky, a project manager for MSA subcontractor Watts, inspects casing spacers.
Employees with Claiborne Hauling, a small business supporting UCOR, are pictured with UCOR and DOE officials. Left to right, UCOR Small Business Manager Freda Hopper, DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Director John Hale III, Claiborne employees Jay Proulx and Herb Anders, EM Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Sue Cange and UCOR President Ken Rueter.
Among its projects as an SRNS subcontractor, North Wind supports field implementation and regulatory documentation for environmental projects at the Savannah River Site.
The Salt Disposal Unit 6 at the Savannah River Site. SRR subcontractor Freeland Construction Company complete the unit’s exterior wall insulation.
Tracy Daniels, an industrial painter with Rizzo Brothers, applies the finish coat of paint to a davit crane at the Paducah DUF6 Conversion facility.
A Wastren Advantage crew uses a wet-cut circular saw while working in one of more than 60 locations of upgrade work on the sanitary fire and high-pressure water systems at the Portsmouth Site.
Workers from DKM Construction smooth out a new concrete pad being poured near the Main Drive Gate into the Portsmouth Site.
Workers with NFT-EPD, a subcontractor to Nuclear Waste Partnership, attach a lid-lifting fixture to an empty shipping container.
Several prime contractors performing cleanup work across the EM complex exceeded their goals of subcontracting with small businesses in fiscal 2016, which spans Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016.
At least nine prime contractors at the Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, Portsmouth and Paducah sites, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, went millions of dollars beyond their small business contracting goals. Of their combined estimated $1.080 billion in contracts and purchases in fiscal 2016, about $783 million, or 72 percent, went to small businesses.
CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) awarded $151 million in contracts and purchases in fiscal 2016. About $129 million, or 85 percent, went to small businesses, exceeding the company’s goal of placing more than 49 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
CH2M has worked with hundreds of small businesses to secure a variety of services, including construction, drilling, professional support and materials. Ojeda Business Ventures and Stillwater are two of CH2M’s small business partners that helped treat more than 2.1 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater, removing more than 180,000 pounds of contaminants in fiscal 2016.
Another CH2M small business partner, Intermech, Inc., supported the effort to move sludge away from the Columbia River by helping remove legacy equipment from a facility to prepare for sludge storage.
“Supporting small business means we not only support DOE’s vision to reduce the Hanford Site cleanup footprint, but we’re putting money back into our own community,” said Tracy Heidelberg, vice president of CH2M Business Services.
CH2M encourages small businesses to visit its supplier website and complete a vendor registration form to become an eligible supplier for future needs.
Mission Support Alliance (MSA) awarded $167 million in contracts and purchases in fiscal 2016. About $122 million, or 73 percent, went to small businesses, outpacing the company’s goal of placing 50 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
MSA successfully concluded a mentor-protégé relationship with Indian Eyes at the end of fiscal 2016. The local Native American woman-owned small business completed approximately $3.3 million of work scope for MSA that year.
MSA established a mentor-protégé relationship with I-3 Global, a local small business focused on information technology with awards approximately at $6.4 million.
URS|CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) awarded more than $147 million in subcontracts and purchases in fiscal 2016, with $121 million, or 83 percent, going to small businesses. These awards exceed the company’s goal of placing 65 percent of all subcontract work with small businesses.
The company relies on small businesses to support cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 site), Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex.
“UCOR relies on the support of innovative and skilled small businesses to meet our cleanup commitments and milestones,” UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter said. “Their exceptional support has helped us consistently bring in projects ahead of schedule and under budget, saving millions in taxpayer dollars.”
Claiborne Hauling, a small veteran-owned company, has safely delivered about 65,000 tons of aggregate to UCOR. UCOR is committed to fostering a strong safety culture, and Claiborne adheres to special instructions about accessing and driving on UCOR sites safely. Claiborne is responsive with deliveries and resolves issues promptly, according to UCOR.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the site’s management and operations contractor, awarded about $269 million in contracts and purchases in fiscal 2016, with approximately $177 million, or about 65 percent, going to small businesses, eclipsing the company’s goal of placing 52 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
North Wind, a small business, helped SRNS investigate and treat complex groundwater plumes using proven, innovative technologies. In fiscal 2017, North Wind is scheduled to evaluate human health and ecological risks associated with the Lower Three Runs stream, which releases into the Savannah River.
SRNS awarded a contract to Hebbard Electric to replace circuit breaker switchgears. The small business has performed a variety of electrical contracting work across the site.
Liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) awarded nearly $91.7 million in contracts and purchases in fiscal 2016, with more than $64.2 million, or about 70 percent, going to small businesses, beating the company’s goal of placing more than 47 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
SRR awarded Freeland Construction Company a contract worth approximately $1.1 million to complete the Salt Disposal Unit (SDU) 6 Exterior Wall Insulation. SDUs are permanent disposal units to contain grouted, decontaminated, low-level salt waste produced from solidification of decontaminated non-hazardous salt waste. SDU 6 is a cylindrical tank 10 times larger than previously constructed SDUs.
Security contractor Centerra awarded more than $8.4 million in contracts and purchases in fiscal 2016, with $7.9 million, or about 94 percent, going to small businesses, surpassing the company’s goal of placing 83 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office
BWXT Conversion Services (BWCS) handles depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities operations at EM’s Paducah, Ky. and Portsmouth, Ohio sites. BWCS awarded $26.6 million in subcontracts in fiscal 2016, with $18.6 million, or 70 percent, going to small businesses, going beyond the company’s goal of placing more than 52 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
Rizzo Brothers provides painting services to BWCS. The small business recently painted the bridge crane steel frame structures and overhead crane components at the Portsmouth and Paducah DUF6 conversion plants.
The Portsmouth Site’s decontamination and decommissioning contractor, Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP), awarded $144.7 million in subcontracts in fiscal 2016, with $87 million, or 60 percent, going to small businesses, exceeding the company’s goal of placing more than 50 percent of all contract work with small businesses.
A recent graduate of the FBP Mentor Protégé Program, Wastren Advantage is a local small business that provides remediation services. DKM Construction is a local small business focused on construction services for FBP. The company contracts with BWCS at the Portsmouth DUF6 conversion facility, and recently waterproof-coated the X-1300 conversion building.
Management and operations contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership’s (NWP) goal was to place 50 percent of all contract work with small businesses in fiscal 2016. NWP awarded approximately $75 million in subcontracts in fiscal 2016 and exceeded its goal with over $56 million, or 75 percent, being awarded to small businesses.
NFT, a small woman-owned business, participates in a mentor-protégé program with NWP. The NFT-EPD Division in Carlsbad, N.M., provides maintenance and repairs on containers for transporting radioactive waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). As WIPP prepares to resume waste shipments, NFT-EPD works to ensure the fleet of shipping containers is ready.
The small business also provides manufactured items to WIPP and participates in research and development activities benefiting WIPP and waste generator sites throughout the DOE complex.
NWP seeks small business support to further the WIPP mission of providing safe, compliant and efficient characterization, transportation and disposal of defense-related TRU waste. Businesses interested in working with WIPP are encouraged to complete a supplier application.
With small business subcontractor support, NWP is progressing toward resuming WIPP waste emplacement operations.