WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown joined members of the Ohio Congressional Delegation in a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shaun Donovan urging continued federal investment in the cleanup and redevelopment of the Piketon plant.

“The cleanup and redevelopment of the Piketon plant are essential to help spur economic development in southern Ohio,” Brown said. “The Department of Energy has an obligation to Southern Ohio to provide the necessary funding to clean up and redevelop the Piketon site. I will continue to work with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress to pass a funding bill that ensures the cleanup remains on schedule and the workforce remains stable.”

Brown made repeated calls to Administration officials urging them to request funding for Piketon in the Continuing Resolution. These included a call with the Energy Secretary and with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in August, and discussions with Senate Appropriations leaders in July and September.

 In November, Brown submitted a public statement at a community meeting in Waverly that urged federal and state officials to work closely with stakeholders in Piketon, Portsmouth, and surrounding communities as cleanup and redevelopment of the site is pursued.

Brown has been a champion for the cleanup and continued development of the plant. In January 2014, Brown announced more than more than $137 million in direct funding to continue cleanup efforts as part of the FY14 omnibus appropriations bill. In 2008, Brown worked closely with DOE to establish a local Site Specific Advisory Board to help local residents better engage in cleanup efforts at the plant. Establishing a reuse plan would build on ongoing efforts to revitalize the area.

The delegation letter to OMB can be seen below.

Dear Director Donovan:

 The Ohio delegation respectfully requests that the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget fully fund decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

As you know, in recent years, D&D cleanup operations at the site have been supplemented by the sale of excess uranium. Volatility in the global uranium market has resulted in projected financial shortfalls at the site which threatened progress on the cleanup and led to the issuance of WARN notices to hundreds of workers. Thankfully, Congress and the Department of Energy were able to avert this crisis in FY 15. However, this experience makes it clear that robust funding for D&D operations at the site are more necessary now than ever before. 

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management is the federal agency responsible for cleanup of former DOE gaseous diffusion plants. In 2009, Secretary Chu made a commitment to the Piketon, OH, community to accelerate cleanup and complete the work by 2024. The project currently employees 1,900 individuals and is critical to the economy of Pike, Ross, Scioto, and Jackson counties.

As a delegation, we have repeatedly urged the Department of Energy to present a comprehensive management plan that fulfills the Secretarial commitment to the community.  This plan should not rely upon the vagaries of the global uranium market.  Clean-up and restoration work is critically important to southern Ohio, and merits your immediate attention to ensure financial stability, fulfill the federal obligation to the community, and sustain productivity at the site. 

On behalf of the Ohio delegation, we sincerely appreciate your consideration of this request to fully fund D&D of the DOE gaseous diffusion plant at Piketon, OH.

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