The Leidos-led landlord at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site asked a federal court in Washington state Monday to throw out litigation by the Department of Justice and a whistleblower alleging the contractor padded its fire safety bills to the government by millions of dollars.
The contractor, which has a 10-year contract now worth $4 billion for infrastructure and site services, denies its staff engaged in a scheme to bill DOE for unworked hours. The contractor also denies its managers knew about any such scheme.
Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, made up of Leidos, Centerra and Parsons, “denies that the complaint states any valid, actionable claim under the False Claims Act or for breach of contract,” according to the answer filed Monday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington.
Further, the contractor argues the complaint fails to state a claim for which relief can be granted. Also, “the government would be unjustly enriched if allowed to recover” the damages alleged in the complaint.
In addition, the contract asserts DOE had all the material relating to Hanford Mission Integration Solutions’ performance “and DOE nonetheless continued to pay” for services provided.
The Justice Department case, based partly on previously sealed allegations by a whistleblower, has been percolating since 2021, but only became public in January with the filing of a public complaint through the U.S. attorney’s office in Eastern Washington.
The Justice Department alleges Hanford Mission Integration Solutions not only billed for unworked hours but failed to ensure fire safety equipment worked.
The joint-venture in its reply denies it “could perform internal pipe inspections of fire suppression systems before such work was authorized and funded by DOE.” The contractor also denies for years it failed to properly plan and schedule fire protection work for hourly workers. Hanford Mission also denies it instructed employees to bill for hours of idle time.
In the last fee scorecard from DOE, Hanford Mission received only 35% of its subjective fee. This Hanford Mission contract was awarded in December 2019 and has a five-year base period that runs through Aug.16, 2025, with one three-year option and one two-year option.
