The U.S. Justice Department has elected not to intervene in a fraud case filed by an ex-employee against an Energy Department contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the advocacy group Hanford Challenge said Tuesday.
The Justice Department declined comment Thursday afternoon, and Hanford Challenge could not immediately be reached for further comment.
Kevin Newcomb, an industrial hygiene technician at Hanford for over 23 years, claims his health was ruined by exposure to toxic chemical vapors on the job. His health situation ultimately led to his resignation from Hanford waste tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), according to Hanford Challenge.
In a sealed complaint filed in October 2017, Newcomb said WRPS systemically failed to train its industrial hygienists; directed the workers to sign cards falsely indicating they had proper credentials for industrial hygiene; and wrongly received fees for upgrading worker health protections against vapors emitted by waste storage tanks at Hanford.
Over a two-year period, the United States wrongly paid WRPS about $50 million in fees based on the faulty assumption that the vendor wsa meeting contract requirements for its industrial hygiene program, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint says WRPS managers knowingly signed off on the credentials of hygienists who were not properly trained.
It was not clear from the complaint when Newcomb sought Justice Department intervention.
Noting the Justice Department declined to intervene in the case, Washington River Protection Solutions said by email it does not comment on active litigation.
“As part of its continuous improvement process, WRPS has addressed chemical vapors-related concerns by implementing robust control measures, comprehensive training practices, and significantly upgrading infrastructure, equipment and monitoring so workers are safe and feel safe,” the company added.
AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions manages tank operations for the Energy Department at Hanford. The vendor manages 56 million gallons of radioactive and liquid waste. The vendor started work on the 10-year contract in October 2008 and is currently working under a one-year extension through this September.
The combined contract and extension are valued at about $6.9 billion. The Energy Department issued a request for proposals for a new tank management contract in February and expects to make an award by this fall.
In Hanford’s tank farms, the hygienist technicians often monitor and collect samples of potentially toxic materials, evaluate workplace safety and health efforts; and review accidents to identify causes and how to prevent future occurrences.
“Hanford Challenge is concerned that the Department of Energy accepts an inadequate training and qualified program as good enough,” said Hanford Challenge Director Tom Carpenter in a press release. Years of data have been gathered by unqualified inspectors, rendering this data, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington was recently unsealed.
The lawsuit, which requests a jury trial, was filed on the plaintiff’s behalf by the Seattle-based law firm Smith & Lowney. Newcomb seeks to recover an unspecified amount of damages on behalf of the federal government.
The Justice Department has previously joined a False Claims Act case against Federal Engineers & Constructors (FE&C) of Richland.
