[NukeNet] Formal Protest Filed Over Livermore Lab Bid Rejection

[Marylia Kelley]

Hi -- Here is the latest news from the "green bid." Read on...
Peace, Marylia

for further information:
Marylia Kelley  (925) 443-7148
Jay Coghlan   (505) 989-7342

for immediate release, Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Green Team Files Formal Protest Over Livermore Lab Bid Rejection;
Federal Action Was "Factually Incorrect, Unsubstantiated, Biased, and
Prejudicial"

A team of organizations seeking to transform the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory (LLNL) into an environmental research facility today
filed a formal protest with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for denying
its management proposal. The fourteen-page document claims "improper and
biased handling" of the group's bid.

Livermore Lab GREEN, LLC charges that DOE's National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) acted improperly by rejecting the bid on grounds that
were "factually incorrect, unsubstantiated, biased and prejudicial,
contrary to regulations and/or easily corrected." The bidders seek legal
relief in the form of "reinstatement" as an active competitor for the LLNL
contract. The protest also requests a suspension of the NNSA's procurement
process until the group is put back on equitable footing with other
bidders. The protest was filed under provisions of Federal Acquisition
Regulations (FAR).

"Our protest rests on the basic moral and legal principle of fair
competition," explained Marylia Kelley, Executive Director of Tri-Valley
CAREs and a leader of the bidding team. "Our bid was unfairly eliminated
>from the competition because NNSA officials involved in the evaluation did
not agree with its philosophical and political approach to attracting more
civilian science to Livermore Lab and moving the facility away from
classified nuclear weapons activities over time."

The protest charges the NNSA:

o Made factually-incorrect assertions in its grounds for rejecting the bid,
including by claiming that information was missing from the bid package
when it was there.

o Made unsubstantiated allegations in its basis for rejecting the bid,
including allegations that the bid would "inhibit NNSA from complying with
the law" even though the bid closely aligned with congressional directives
to remove weapons-usable plutonium from Livermore Lab before 2014.

o Acted in a biased and prejudicial manner in its rejection of the bid by
treating the Livermore Lab GREEN, LLC and its proposal differently than it
treated competitors.

o Used grounds in rejecting the bid that could easily have been corrected
under the provisions of FAR, for example by rejecting the group's proposal
because it provided the managing entity's board of directors list but not
the lists for other partners.

o Conducted a legally-deficient process in disallowing the GREEN, LLC bid,
including by canceling a debriefing meeting as team members were calling
in, and then refusing to reschedule it.

The group also cited congressional disapproval of the NNSA's Livermore Lab
bidding process. The GREEN LLC's protest includes Representative David
Hobson's letter late last year as Chairman of the House Energy and Water
Development Appropriations Subcommittee. Hobson wrote: "In mandating
competition, it was the intent of Congress to attract the widest possible
group of interested bidders... The Department of Energy has resisted moving
in the direction of fair and open competitive processes. Unfortunately, the
Department hasŠ telegraphed to the contractor community that innovative
ideas and concepts would not be favorably received."

"Congress is increasingly recognizing that DOE, particularly its nuclear
weapons arm, makes up its own rules to suit itself," concluded Jay Coghlan,
Director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, another member of the bidding team.
"Our proposal for transforming Lawrence Livermore must be reinstated so the
U.S. can comply with its legal obligations to strengthen the global
nonproliferation regime, and not undermine it with new nuclear weapons and
expanding production."

Under the Federal Acquisition Regulations, NNSA is required to provide for
inexpensive, procedurally simple and expeditious resolution of the
Livermore Lab GREEN, LLC protest. This process can include alternative
dispute resolution, third party review and use of other agency's personnel.
The Livermore lab GREEN, LLC's protest welcomes all these approaches.
Moreover, it also requests that the NNSA establish an "independent review"
for the protest, as allowed under FAR.

"We are entitled to a process that is both timely and fair," commented
Tri-Valley CAREs' Staff attorney, Loulena Miles. "As the protest makes
clear, NNSA could put the 'green team' back on equitable footing with the
other bidders expeditiously and avoid a potentially prolonged suspension."


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A copy of the full GREEN, LLC protest letter is available by fax or email
from Tri-Valley CAREs at (925) 443-7148

Marylia Kelley,
Executive Director

Tri-Valley CAREs
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA  94551

Ph: (925) 443-7148
Fx: (925) 443-0177
Web: www.trivalleycares.org
Email: marylia at trivalleycares.org or marylia at earthlink.net