IDAHO FALLS — The company managing the Idaho Cleanup Project at the INL has laid off 118 employees as part of a workforce restructuring effort announced in August.

Erik Simpson, spokesman for CH2M-WG Idaho (CWI), said the last of the employees will be let go this week, and those affected have already been notified.

“This is not a new event,” he said, adding that most of the employees were laid off weeks ago.

Simpson said they asked for volunteers at the beginning of the process in August, and some of the employees did decide to retire or resign at that time.

Still, the layoffs have impacted employees — including managers and supervisors — in document control, design, engineering, training and construction, Simpson said, adding that some of those who were let go were subcontractors.

The affected employees were paid for the week they were notified as well as the week following, Simpson said. They also received severance pay for up to 16 weeks, depending on how long they had been with CWI.

Simpson said they have been able to help a handful of employees find other jobs, and they’re forwarding others’ resumes to perspective employers. In addition, they’re working with the Idaho Department of Labor to hold a career fair on Thursday for the affected employees. That will take place at the Idaho Department of Labor office located at 1515 E. Lincoln Road in Idaho Falls, from 1- to 3 p.m.

Simpson said the layoffs are a natural part of CWI’s work, which shrinks as the tasks associated with the Idaho Cleanup Project are completed.

“Our work scope priorities change in our project and our employee headcount is affected,” he said, adding that they’re slowly working themselves out of a job.

However, CWI still has a lot of work for its remaining 1,052 employees.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently extended CWI’s contract through September 2015.

“Over the past seven years CWI has been able to complete its environmental cleanup mission ahead of schedule and under budget,” Jim Cooper, DOE-EM Manager for the Idaho Cleanup Project said in a news release about the contract extension. “CWI has also been successful in accelerating work in the current contract, allowing for out year work scope to be pulled forward and completed earlier. It is in the public’s best interest to maintain this momentum for an additional three years.”

Simpson said CWI is responsible for the disposal of radioactive waste and buried waste, the disposition of nuclear materials, and the management of spent nuclear fuel. It also oversees environmental remediation and completion of sodium bearing waste processing.