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Washington Closure LLC wins Hanford River Corridor Cleanup Contract

03.25.2005

RICHLAND, Wash. – The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it has selected a team led by Boise-based Washington Group International (Nasdaq: WGII) to complete cleanup of the DOE’s Hanford Site along the Columbia River in southeastern Washington state.

The River Corridor Closure Contract, valued by the DOE at about $1.9 billion over the next seven years, was awarded to Washington Closure LLC, a limited liability company owned by Washington Group International, Bechtel National, and CH2M Hill. The contract has a cost-plus-incentive-fee pricing arrangement."Our three companies have more than 30 years of experience at Hanford, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to apply new environmental approaches proven effective at our other environmental closure projects for the benefit of the DOE, the taxpayers and other stakeholders including the citizens of the region,” stated Stephen G. Hanks, president and chief executive officer of Washington Group International.

“We are delighted to be awarded the contract to manage DOE’s River Corridor Closure Project,” said Pat Pettiette, president of Washington Closure and project manager for the new River Corridor Closure Project.

“We’re pleased that the DOE recognized how much we can do to help them effectively reduce health risks and expedite the environmental cleanup at Hanford while also reducing the overall cost of this important effort. Our parent companies bring significant commercial and government cleanup experience to Washington Closure, and we look forward to working with the DOE and our many stakeholders to safely complete this important project along the river corridor,” said Pettiette.

Included in the scope of work for the RCC Project is the placement of the deactivated plutonium production reactors – some dating back to the 1940s – in interim safe storage, also known as cocooning; clean up waste sites and burial grounds located near the Columbia River; demolish contaminated facilities; and operate the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.Much of the work that will be done under the RCCC will be performed by employees currently working on the existing Environmental Restoration Contract. The new contact will also use some employees currently working on the Project Hanford Management Contract.

“We look forward to building upon the excellent record of cleanup progress established by the current team of dedicated employees working for Bechtel Hanford, CH2M Hill Hanford, Eberline Services Hanford, and Fluor Hanford,” said Pettiette. “As we transition to the new Washington Closure, their expertise and professionalism will be an important element in the completion of the Hanford cleanup,” Pettiette said.

Washington Group International, Inc. provides the talent, innovation, and proven performance to deliver integrated engineering, construction, and management solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. With approximately 27,000 employees at work in over 40 states and more than 30 countries, the company provides professional, scientific, management, and development services in more than two dozen major markets. Included among those markets are: Power generation, transmission and distribution, and clean air solutions; environmental remediation; heavy civil construction; mining; nuclear services; defense, homeland security, and global threat reduction; industrial, gas, chemical, and pharmaceutical processing; manufacturing; facilities operations and management; transportation; and water resources.

CH2M HILL is an employee-owned, global firm providing engineering, construction, operations, and related technical services to public and private clients in numerous industries. The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of water, energy, environment, transportation, communications, construction, and industrial facilities. Headquartered in Denver, CH2M HILL has more than 14,000 employees working in 165 offices worldwide where respect for the environment is reflected in safe, innovative and environmentally sound work practices.

Bechtel Corp. is a global engineering, construction and project management company with more than a century of experience mastering complex projects in challenging locations. Privately owned, with headquarters in San Francisco, the company has 40,000 employees working in 50 countries. In addition to environmental cleanup projects at Hanford and other DOE sites in the United States, Bechtel's work includes defense and aerospace facilities, telecommunications networks, pipelines, oil and gas field development, roads and rail systems, airports and seaports, fossil and nuclear power plants, refineries and petrochemical facilities, and mines and smelters.