"Hanford Whistleblower Probe Stalled Early on -- Memo"

"A Department of Energy investigation into the contentious firing of a Hanford nuclear waste site official met initial resistance from some of the government's biggest contractors.

Little more than a month into the probe, DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman alerted Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to problems he was running into with URS Corp. and Bechtel Corp. -- two contracting giants that are working at the site. Friedman said in an April 9 memorandum obtained by Greenwire under the Freedom of Information Act that the two companies were not consenting to interviews regarding his investigation of whistleblower Donna Busche's termination.

'Unfortunately, the firms representing URS and BNI [Bechtel] have been slow in cooperating with our requests to schedule interviews with specific employees,' Friedman wrote. 'Of the 23 interviews we have requested, we have only been able to interview 3 employees.'"

Kevin Bogardus reports for Greenwire November 20, 2014.