2013 Data Falsification Incident Costs FBP Approx. $50,000
WC Monitor
1/9/2015
An incident in 2013 where workers at the Portsmouth D&D project were found to have falsified records has ended up costing contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, approximately $50,000 so far, according to information recently obtained by WC Monitor. Last summer, DOE determined that $46,538.03 in costs associated with the incident are unallowable, according to a June 10, 2014, letter WC Monitor obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The incident is also under investigation by the DOE Office of Enforcement, which could result in financial penalties for FBP. ”The Department of Energy (DOE) directed Fluor-B&W Portsmouth (FBP) to identify all costs incurred that related to the falsification incidents, and recovered those unallowable costs. However, the Department reserves the right to recover additional unallowable costs or take other appropriate actions pursuant to the results of the ongoing investigation by the Office of Enterprise Assessments,” a DOE spokesperson said in a written response late this week.
In May 2013, FBP fired 14 workers at the Portsmouth D&D project after an investigation found that records associated with radiation detectors had been falsified. The records appeared to have been changed to cover instances where the radiological monitors had been kept in service after failing a source check. FBP said at the time that there had been no evidence that contaminated items may have been improperly released from a radiological area as result of the use of detectors that did not pass source checks.
In August 2013, DOE warned FBP that it would consider the costs associated with the incident to be unallowable. FBP, however, had initially argued that all costs tied to the incident should be allowable based on the contractor’s interpretation of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In a written response late this week, FBP spokesman Jeff Wagner said, “FBP has accepted DOE’s position and considers the disallowance of cost issue closed.”
