In The News

Congressman Brad Wenstrup (R-2nd District) had several meetings in Pike County on Wednesday to discuss the possible layoffs of about 675 employees at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon during the next few months due to a sizable budget gap for Fiscal Year 2015.

Wenstrup met with representatives from Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC, the contractor for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) at the site, and also met with the Pike County Commissioners, the Portsmouth EM Site Specific Advisory Board, and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 689.

“The only entity missing was the Department of Energy (DOE),” Wenstrup said in an interview on Thursday.

Employees, local elected leaders, and members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, including Wenstrup, have attempted to contact the DOE to urge them to fund the D&D project but have recently complained about the Department’s lack of response.

On Tuesday, Wenstrup and Congressmen Bill Johnson (R-OH-6) and Steve Stivers (R-OH-15) sent a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, inviting the secretary to come to the Piketon site.

“As we have repeatedly urged, the Department of Energy must come forward with a plan that forestalls the proposed layoffs at the site and keeps the D&D cleanup project on track to be completed,” Tuesday’s letter states in-part. “As such, we are writing to request that you come to Piketon, Ohio, and tour the facility before the impending layoffs on October 1.

“This site is critically important to southern Ohio and merits the Department of Energy’s immediate attention. The size and scope of this project are significant, and the cleanup needs are not fully appreciated until viewed in person. The workers and the community deserve answers as the Department’s lack of clarity leaves the region facing serious economic uncertainty.”

Wenstrup said that he asked some of the groups he spoke with on Wednesday to also write letters to Moniz, inviting him to the site.

“It’s somewhat easy, I guess, for people in Washington to decide that this isn’t a priority, when they don’t have to look the people in the eye and tell the community that we’re going to slow this project down, we’re going to lose jobs, and we’re going to delay any potential for rebuilding this area,” Wenstrup said on Thursday.

Wenstrup said that the Piketon site can be cleaned up and be a huge success and stated that in his opinion, the site has the opportunity to be one of the energy capitals of America. He said he wants to make the case for what can be done long term at the site.

Wenstrup also indicated that the support for the plant site by Ohio Senators and Congressmen has been a bipartisan effort.

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