DOJ SUES WASH. CLOSURE HANFORD OVER SUBCONTRACTS

The federal government filed a civil lawsuit late last week against Washington Closure Hanford, accusing it of falsely claiming credit for awarding small business subcontracts worth millions of dollars. In three subcontracts that Washington Closure used to meet requirements for small businesses, including women-owned small businesses, the businesses did not do a substantial portion of the work, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern Washington District. Instead, the small businesses that were awarded the work passed it through to another subcontractor, Federal Engineers and Constructors, the legal complaint alleged. FE&C, Sage Tec and Sage Tec’s owner also were named in the lawsuit.

The claims of improper subcontracting were originally made by Savage Logistics and its owner, Salina Savage, in 2010, after the company failed to win a bid. The U.S. Department of Justice indicated in August it would be intervening in part of that lawsuit, which it did Friday. It also added allegations that Washington Closure breached its contract with DOE by making allegedly false statements about its small business subcontracting. Dick French, an owner of FE&C, has previously called Savage’s allegations without merit. “Teaming arrangements are common and are encouraged on many projects at Hanford,” French said in court documents filed earlier. No company has been asked to serve as a “front company” for FE&C and all the companies it has teamed with have done an appropriate share of the work, he said.