Hanford employees score bonuses despite problems

YAKIMA – The U.S. Department of Energy has paid nearly $400,000 in bonuses in the past three years to employees overseeing construction of a massive plant to treat nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation – a project mired in cost overruns and delays.

The Energy Department slowed construction on the plant, long considered the cornerstone of cleanup at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site, earlier this year amid seismic concerns and a rapidly ballooning price tag: $5.8 billion and growing.

Critics contend many of the problems could have been avoided and that the federal government has mismanaged the project so badly its future is imperiled.

Awarding large bonuses on such a troubled project only reinforces that point, said Tom Carpenter, director of the nuclear oversight campaign for the Government Accountability Project, a Hanford watchdog group.

The Associated Press discovered the bonuses in Energy Department documents obtained through a public records request.

“I’m sure there’s very good and fine people out there doing their darnedest, but overall, it doesn’t seem to fit, does it? You don’t reward failure with money,” Carpenter said.

The largest amount of bonus money – $51,000 over three years – went to Roy Schepens, who took over as manager of Hanford’s Office of River Protection in 2001. He oversees both the construction of the treatment plant and the separate project to empty underground nuclear waste tanks. His annual salary before bonuses is $162,053.

Schepens’ deputy, Shirley Olinger, received $19,000 in bonuses since assuming her post in 2002. Her salary is $147,100 annually.

For employees assigned solely to the waste treatment plant, the Energy Department awarded roughly $154,000 in bonuses, including $25,790 to project manager John Eschenberg. Eschenberg’s annual salary is $136,174.

The Energy Department routinely awards bonuses from its annual funding appropriated by Congress. Bonus awards are based on performance reviews and individual accomplishments, said Mike Waldron, Energy Department spokesman.

“These employees’ individual contributions amount to significant achievements,” he said, noting recent advancements in upgrading underground tanks and waste retrieval.

“The progress we’ve made, and the accomplishments we’ve recognized, are well worth the investment.”

But under Schepens and his subordinates, the waste treatment plant has fallen further behind schedule and its cost has increased so much that the Energy Department won’t even release an estimate, despite multiple Freedom of Information requests.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated the cost could reach as high as $10 billion, far above the roughly $4 billion estimate when the contract was awarded in 2000, according to a report leaked to The Seattle Times.

Schepens declined to comment through a department spokesman.