After giving the city of Richland property worth millions, DoE may believe it’s payback time.  DoE wants the city to annex property that includes some highly contaminated pieces.

Department of Energy (DoE) may be looking for payback when it asked the Richland City Council to approve the annexation of property that includes some highly contaminated pieces.  In 2025 alone Richland sold almost $1.1 million of former DoE property. The city of Richland also collected about $300,000 in option payments for about $51 million of additional property given to the city by DoE.

DoE will still own the annexed area including the contaminated locations, but the city could be required to provide city services including infrastructure, fire and police protection. The city and DoE will hammer out the details.

According to the staff-written cover sheet that accompanies the agenda item, “If Council accepts the proposed annexation, additional steps will be required before final approval, including Planning Commission review, a public hearing, and subsequent consideration of an annexation ordinance.”

The council will vote on the first step, whether to proceed with the annexation process, at its 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday at Richland City Hall, The meeting can be seen live on Cable Channel 192 and on Richland City View.

A remodeled police station could provide room for expanded services.

The $51 million Richland could realize from the sale of land equals the amount the city plans to spend on remodeling a building at 1200 Jadwin to become a police station. With oodles of room there, police and fire services would have room to grow. Something that DoE officials may have noticed.

One company with a billionaire board member and one company that has never built anything have options on $51 million of former DoE property.

Washington Energy, a division of General Matter, a company that’s board includes billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, has a six-year option, approved by the Richland council on January 7, 2025, to purchase 425 acres of former DoE property. The company, plans to build a uranium enrichment plant and paid $50,000 for the initial option which escalates each year.

Atlas Agro, a Swiss company that has never built anything anywhere, paid the city $250,000 for a one-year option on a $24 million property where they plan to build a data center in the Horn Rapids area. The council approved the plan on December 2, 2025. The company can extend the option for another year for the same amount.