PIKE COUNTY, Ohio - EM contractor Portsmouth Mission Alliance (PMA) recently received DOE Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) “STAR" recognition for the eighth consecutive year on behalf of the infrastructure support workforce at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
VPP promotes contractor safety and health excellence through efforts among labor, management, and government at DOE sites. Programs that meet the requirements for outstanding safety and health programs receive STAR recognition, the highest achievement level.
To be eligible for the STAR of Excellence, companies must maintain an injury rate 75 percent below the industry average and demonstrate safety excellence through community outreach and mentoring efforts. Sites that achieve STAR status for a fourth consecutive year are awarded the “Legacy of Stars." PMA received its second consecutive Legacy of Stars award at the 34th annual National VPP Participants’ Association Expo and Conference in Nashville.
PMA Project Manager Damon Detillion congratulated the company’s employees for earning the award.
“We appreciate your commitment to safety, which earned PMA this noteworthy status," he said.
A joint venture between North Wind Solutions of Idaho Falls, Idaho and Swift & Staley of Paducah, Kentucky, PMA has been responsible for infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Site since 2016. The contractor provides surveillance, maintenance, and repair of facilities; janitorial services; grounds maintenance, snow removal, and pest control; roadway and parking lot maintenance; information technology, telecommunication and cyber security; fleet management; real and personal property management; records management and document control; safeguards and security; environment, safety, health, and quality programs; and training services.
Uranium enrichment operations at the Portsmouth Site began in 1954 and ceased in 2001. Enriched uranium from the site was used for national security applications and to fuel commercial nuclear power plants. Extensive environmental remediation at the site began in 1989, and deactivation and decommissioning of the gaseous diffusion plant began in 2011.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
