CH2M Hill has agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle civil and criminal violations related to widespread timecard fraud at the Hanford tank farms, according to the Department of Justice. The settlement includes $16.55 million to resolve civil liability under the False Claims Act and a refund of $1.95 million in wrongfully obtained incentive fees. The settlement also includes $500,000 to be used for a timekeeping system to better monitor timecards at CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. and to hire a corporate monitor. The timecard fraud covered in the settlement occurred from 2005 to 2008, when CH2M Hill Hanford Group was the Hanford tank farm contractor. Current Hanford contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. is in charge of central Hanford and groundwater contamination cleanup.
To date, eight former CH2M Hill Hanford Group workers have pleaded guilty to timecard fraud. The settlement agreement reserves the right for the Justice Department to possibly hold more CH2M Hill employees liable for fraud, including managers and supervisors. However, the Justice Department has agreed not to pursue criminal prosecution of CH2M Hill. It had taken over a civil lawsuit filed by a former worker under the False Claims Act in Eastern Washington U.S. District Court. “This conduct is not consistent with CH2M Hill values, but it happened on our watch and we should have rooted it out sooner,” said John Corsi, CH2M Hill spokesman. Since 2008 CH2M Hill has made oversight and governance changes in how it monitors and manages timecards and overtime at Hanford, he said.