JAD Environmental Selected to Study Environmental Impacts
of Energy Department’s Natural Gas Pipeline Project

RICHLAND, Wash. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected JAD Environmental, LLC, to support the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding its proposed natural gas pipeline extension to support facilities at its Hanford Site. JAD Environmental is a joint venture of three environmental consulting firms – Jason Associates Corporation headquartered in San Diego, Calif.; AGEISS, Inc., in Evergreen, Colo.; and Dade Moeller, headquartered in Richland near the Hanford Site.

JAD Environmental will work with DOE and its contracted natural gas supplier to evaluate the potential health and environmental impacts of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed pipeline. The study also will consider alternatives, including different routes for the pipeline.

The Department of Energy estimates that the EIS process, initiated on January 23, 2012, and required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), will last approximately two years.

“We are pleased that DOE chose us to support its EIS for this important project,” said Joe Rivers, JAD Environmental Project Manager for the EIS. “As a DOE NEPA contractor with more than 40 years of combined NEPA expertise between our three companies, we will ensure a high-quality evaluation of the potential impacts of the pipeline.”

The proposed pipeline would service two diesel-fueled facilities involved in the cleanup of radioactive wastes at Hanford – the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, currently under construction, and the existing 242-A Evaporator. Under DOE’s proposal, a connection to an existing natural gas pipeline in the City of Pasco would be extended approximately 30 miles to service the 200 Area. Portions of the proposed pipeline would run underneath the Columbia River. By acquiring natural gas services for these facilities, DOE would comply with policies and requirements to reduce costs, greenhouse gases, and dependence on foreign fuel sources.

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Media Contact:  Ernie Harr, Manager, JAD Environmental, 301-828-7342, eharr@jason.com