Federal agents investigate DOE subcontractor based in Oliver Springs

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 17.

OLIVER SPRINGS—A federal subcontractor that works at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge is under investigation by several federal agencies, including the FBI, IRS, and DOE Office of Inspector General.

Federal agents were at the Oliver Springs headquarters of the contractor, TOPS, on Thursday, but officials would not comment on the investigation. The office is on Winter Gap Road, next to Highway 62 just north of downtown Oliver Springs.

Dennis Holenstein at the IRS’ Nashville Field Office confirmed that agents from IRS Criminal Investigations were assisting with the investigation, but he referred a reporter to the DOE Office of Inspector General. The IG, in turn, referred calls to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Tennessee. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said its policy is to neither comment on, nor confirm or deny, the existence or status of a pending investigation.

TOPS—Transportation, Operations, and Professional Services Inc.—was established in January 1999 as a woman-owned small business designed to provide engineering and construction-related services. The company said it gained approval as a DOE waste transportation carrier in 2004 and began supporting cleanup activities in Oak Ridge. TOPS provided engineering supervision for the Haul Road Project for DOE cleanup work in Oak Ridge.

TOPS was awarded its first federal contract with cleanup contractor UCOR for the Waste Transportation Project at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in July 2011. The company considered the contract its first “anchor subcontract” and said it was “working diligently at growing its business with UCOR and across the DOE complex.”

TOPS was named Protégé of the Year at a UCOR small business awards ceremony in June 2013.

“TOPS’ proven ability to manage the WTP while providing significant cost savings had led to more business opportunities within the Oak Ridge Reservation and across the DOE complex,” the company said.

On its website, TOPS said it employs more than 50 professionals across the DOE complex, including workers supporting ETTP and Waste Treatment Operations Facility in Oak Ridge, Uranium Process Facility design in Knoxville, Separations Research Process Unit in Schenectady, N.Y., and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M.

In addition to searching the Oliver Springs office of TOPS, federal agents also searched the Petros home of company owner Joni Armes, according to WATE-TV in Knoxville.