Government contractor AECOM has acknowledged several federal investigations of affiliate companies doing work in the cleanup of the Hanford Site in Washington state. According to the company’s 10-Q report filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission, “the federal government is conducting an investigation into our affiliate, URS Energy & Construction, a subcontractor on the Waste Treatment Plant, regarding contractual compliance and various technical issues in the design, development and construction of the Waste Treatment Plant.” The federal government is also probing “the circumstances surrounding the response of our joint venture, Washington River Protection Solutions LLC, to a leak within the tank farms of the Hanford nuclear reservation.”
URS Energy & Construction is further dealing with two whistleblower claims for restitution on the basis of “alleged retaliation and wrongful termination,” according to the 10-Q. “URS Energy and Construction, Washington River Protection Solutions LLC and Washington Closure Hanford LLC dispute these investigations and claims and intend to continue to defend these matters vigorously,” AECOM said. The document did not provide additional details of the investigations. AECOM and Washington River Protection Solutions had not responded to requests for comment by press time Monday. There was also no immediate statement from the Department of Energy, which is overseeing cleanup at Hanford, or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Millions of gallons of waste produced during former nuclear-weapon operations at Hanford are ultimately expected to be processed by the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The Tri-City Herald reported last week that radioactive waste is seeping out of a single-shell storage tank at the site, while waste is also leaking between shells of a separate double-shell storage container. AECOM last year bought URS, and is a joint owner with Energy Solutions of Washington River Protection Solutions. Through URS, it is a joint owner with Bechtel and CH2M Hill of Washington Closure Hanford. Last week, AECOM reached a $4.1 million settlement with whistleblower Walter Tamosaitis, who said he lost his job with URS after warning of safety issues with the WTP.
