USW Urges Congress to Fully Fund Cleanup Work at Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio

Some 675 Direct Jobs at Stake Plus Hundreds More in Surrounding Area

Contact: Lynne Hancock, USW, (o) 615-828-6169, (c) 615-828-6169, lhancock@usw.org
              Tony Montana, USW, (o) 412-562-2592, tmontana@usw.org

Pittsburgh—The United Steelworkers (USW) is urging Congress to provide the $400 million necessary to fully fund the cleanup work at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant in Piketon, Ohio. Hundreds of jobs are at stake as well as safety concerns in the community if this project does not proceed as scheduled.  

USW Local 689, which represents the plant’s workers, received a Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice on July 17, 2014. Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC (FBP), the contractor handling the Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) work, issued the notice because of an anticipated $110 million Department of Energy (DOE) budget shortfall for FY15.

DOE receives funding for D&D work from Congress and from the sale of uranium. For fiscal year 2015 there is a $110 million shortfall because of the soft demand for uranium due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 that prompted Japan to shut down all of its nuclear plants and Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear energy.

If Congress does not appropriate the full $400 million, FBP will lay off 505 employees on Oct. 16, 2014. The USW represents 300 of these workers. The contractor says additional layoffs may be necessary in November and estimates up to 675 jobs at the plant may be at risk. This does not count jobs in Pike County, where the plant is located, that are connected economically to the facility. The announced reduction in workforce at the Piketon facility will drive a 25 percent increase in the current 8.7 percent unemployment rate for Pike County, which is the second highest in the state of Ohio.

“Since the Portsmouth plant stopped enriching uranium in 2001, more than 800 USW members of Local 689 have dedicated their lives to performing this much-needed cleanup work so the land can be re-industrialized and used for economic development,” said USW International Vice President Carol Landry. “These are good, family-supporting jobs that benefit the community and perform a service for the country by eliminating hazardous material from the environment. Reducing the workforce would significantly delay clean-up activities and could compromise the safety of the community.”

USW District 1 Director David McCall called on members of the House and Senate appropriations committees to follow through on the federal government’s commitment to the decontamination and decommissioning project in Piketon.

“Steelworkers employed by Fluor – B&W Portsmouth are holding up their end of the bargain,” McCall said. “Congress and the Department of Energy must commit now to finding the funds so that this important project can continue on schedule.”

USW members are writing letters and contacting their congressional delegation and members of the House and Senate appropriations committees to request full funding.

Local 689 also is participating in a town hall meeting on Thursday, July 24 at 6:00 p.m., at the Pike County Government Center, 230 Waverly Plaza, Waverly, Ohio. Representatives from the D&D project, congressional members, local unions and local government will provide information on the funding situation as well as answer questions from the audience and media.

The USW is the largest industrial union in North America and has 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, glass, chemicals, paper and forestry, energy, and the service sector.

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