Posted Date: July 5, 2012 Procurement Office: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund RCRA Procurement Operations Division (3805R) 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460 Response Date: July 11, 2012 In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development and EPA?s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), intends to award a sole source fixed-price purchase order to Beckman Coulter, Inc. for the renewal of a preventative maintenance agreement for the Optima L-100Xp ultracentrifuge from Beckman Coulter, Inc.. The Beckman Coulter, Inc. Optima L-100XP ultracentrifuge is a specialized centrifuge optimized for spinning a rotor at very high speeds, capable of generating acceleration as high as 100,000 rpm. This instrument has important uses in EPA's biological research for pelleting of fine particulate fractions, such as cellular organelles, proteins, and viruses. More specifically, the Optima L-100XP is a critical instrument used in many of EPA's virus occurrence methods and protein purification protocols. It is important that the ultracentrifuge be in proper functioning order to conduct our virus and protein research. In addition, the tremendous rotational kinetic energy of a rotor in an operating ultracentrifuge makes the catastrophic failure of a spinning rotor a very serious concern. The stresses of routine use can eventually cause the equipment to deteriorate. Therefore, careful maintenance of the ultracentrifuge is required for safe operation and execution of EPA's researc h; this maintenance must be performed by trained specialists. Because the Optima L-100XP ultracentrifuge is manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Inc., this company is uniquely qualified to service and maintain our ultracentrifuge. The ultracentrifuge was previously maintained under purchase order EP-11-D000488. In order to successfully maintain the ultracentrifuge, it is highly preferable to use Beckman Coulter inc. for the continuation of ,maintenance of the Ultracentrifuge. NO SOLICITATION OR REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) IS AVAILABLE. Notwithstanding, any firm that believes it is capable of meeting EPA's requirement as stated herein may submit a capability statement, which if received within five (5) calendar days of the date of this announcement will be considered. Responses to this posting must be in writing and provide clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. A determination not to compete the proposed purchase order based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All questions should be directed to Ron Bell via the e-mail link below. The point of contact for this procurement is Ron Bell, Contracting Specialist, at
[email protected]