Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
5/8/2015
Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC) is facing a lawsuit from one of its subcontractors alleging it has experienced more than $12 million in damages for work on the K West Basin Annex construction project. Federal Engineers and Constructors (FE&C) filed the suit on April 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, accusing CHPRC of breach of contract and failure to make prompt payments, among other claims. “Without limitation, CHPRC is responsible for in excess of $3 million of invoices due and payable to FE&C, plus almost $5 million in extended overhead damages, and plus in excess of $4.5 million representing the cost of capital resulting directly from CHPRC’s failure to timely pay FE&C,” the lawsuit states. FE&C President and CEO Richard French did not return a call for comment on the suit this week. CHPRC declined to comment.
FE&C won in the spring of 2012 a subcontract worth approximately $11 million to construct the K West Basin Annex, which is where the sludge currently stored at the K West basin will be pumped into a tank enclosed within a cask for transport to Hanford’s T Plant for processing prior to disposal. Construction of the building is expected to be completed this fiscal year, according to CHPRC.
Did CHPRC Provide ‘Defective Plans’ For Project?
FE&C has charged, though, that it began experiencing problems almost from the very beginning of the project. “Among other things, CHPRC repeatedly failed to provide timely and duly approved engineering, design, drawings, plants and/or specifications that FE&C needed to timely and efficiently proceed with work,” the company’s suit says. “The plans on which FE&C bid were, in fact, inadequate, inaccurate and incomplete. Moreover, CHPRC failed to timely remedy the defective plans and specifications, all of which constitute material and significant breaches of the implied warranty of the adequacy of plans and specifications.” FE&C also charged that through February 2015, it provided at least 665 requests for clarification or information “due to defects in CHPRC’s drawings and specifications” and that it received from CHPRC at least 663 notices of design changes for the project.
FE&C Accuses CHPRC of Interfering With Sub-Subcontractors
FE&C’s lawsuit also accuses CHPRC of improperly interfering with its sub-subcontractors. “CHPRC attempted to modify the Subcontract by requiring FE&C and its subcontractors to perform under different procurement structures and under different terms and conditions, referred to by CHPRC as the ‘integrated project team’ approach,” the suit says. “CHPRC has intentionally interfered with the agreements between FE&C and FE&C’s sub-subcontractors. CHPRC has interfered with FE&C’s work by contacting directly FE&C’s contractors, by interfering with the work of said contractors, by creating a hostile work environment for said contractors and by directing the contractors to perform work in contradiction to the sub-subcontract requirements.”
