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SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah engineer and entrepreneur Steve Creamer built EnergySolutions by putting together nine nuclear companies, including the controversial Envirocare waste dump in Tooele County. Friday, Creamer's abrupt resignation sent EnergySolutions stock tumbling into free fall.
The company's stock made a comeback after the new CEO reassured investors in a conference call, but the abrupt resignation just before a quarterly earnings report has stockholders jittery. Others wonder what's up with a company that's been aggressively fighting back against critics.
EnergySolutions officials acknowledge their waste disposal operation in Utah has made them the target of heated criticism, which they consider unfair. They say the company Steve Creamer built is considered the "good guy" in many other places.
The company has 7,000 employees running nuclear facilities and cleanup operations in several states and three other countries. Now the man who put the company together is suddenly out.
"He made the decision and tended his resignation, and the board accepted it," said Val Christensen, president and CEO of EnergySolutions.
Creamer's CEO position has been taken by Christensen, who is also the company's president. He says there was no drama leading to Creamer's departure, but he won't say if it was for personal reasons or because of management disputes.
"Well, what I can tell you is there were no underlying economic or financial issues, nothing to do with fraud or corporate malfeasance or violations of corporate policies or anything like that; and the discussions leading up to his resignations are private between him and the board," Christensen said.
The company's critics don't expect any major changes.
"Thinking back to when Steve Creamer's tenure started at EnergySolutions, he really promised the people of Utah a new era of transparency. Unfortunately, we never saw that reflected in reality," says Chris Thomas, with the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.
In recent weeks, company officials have been fighting back against those critics. They ran an ad accusing Congressman Jim Matheson of dishonesty, and they've peppered the winter Olympics with the company's interpretation of nuclear issues.
Christensen takes credit for stewardship of the aggressive ads, but says Creamer was fully on board.
"We've just decided we're going to correct misstatements about the company and we're going to educate people in the state of Utah," Christensen said.
Meanwhile, Thomas said, "We'll be working to make sure that EnergySolutions can't bring anything hotter to the state."
One reason investors are nervous is because Creamer is following the chief financial officer out the door.
KSL News couldn't reach Creamer for his explanation. We're told he's on his way to Hawaii for a vacation.
Steven Rogel, an independent director for the company, will assume Creamer's role as chairman of the board.
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Story compiled with contributions from John Hollenhorst and Marc Giauque.
