There are a few key position changes taking place in Eddy County Right now. Reinhard Knerr, who had been serving as the Manager of Carlsbad’s Department of Energy Field Office, will now be the Deputy Manager of the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office in Lexington, Kentucky. The Carlsbad Field Office oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for the federal government.
We appreciate Knerr’s service to the WIPP over the past two years, especially his strong support for expanding a vocational training program in Carlsbad, and his interest in expanding public communication about WIPP. Mark Bollinger, the CBFO Manager, will become acting manager here on Jan. 29. Betsy Forinash will become CBFO’s acting Deputy Manager. She is currently the EM Headquarters Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste and Materials Management.
We also recently had a great meeting with Jeff Carswell, who is the head of Navarro, who now heads WIPP’s CTAC contract. Carswell, who previously worked on the WIPP project as a federal employee, is being assisted by Sharon Cook, with INL, as well as by Jeri Strong. The CTAC contract recently changed hands.
As discussed previously, WIPP is also in the process of transitioning its operation contract from NWP to SIMCO. Ken Harrawood will be the new manager of this contract. He’s replacing Sean Dunagan, who did an outstanding job serving on the project in Carlsbad.
What it all means is that there’s a great deal of change taking place at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, possibly the largest number of changes to ever happen at the same time. We will help WIPP however we can during this very extensive transition process. This is an extremely important, worthwhile project, both to our community and to the entire country.
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Our neighbors in Loving have a new mayor. This week, the Loving Village Council appointed Rick C. Fuentes to fill former mayor Pete Estrada’s term. This term expires at the end of the year. Fuentes is a long-time councilor with the village and will do a great job.
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The state legislative session is now underway, and many Carlsbad and Eddy County residents will be making the trip to Santa Fe this week or next. One of our priorities will remain the House Bill Six/Destination Sourcing topic. We are working very hard with our delegates from Southeast New Mexico to make sure that communities such as Carlsbad and Hobbs are treated fairly.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway