The U.S. Department of Justice appears to be running out of patience after failing to reach a settlement agreement by a deadline Friday in a lawsuit with Washington Closure Hanford, a former Hanford Site prime cleanup contractor.
The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against Washington Closure, alleging it knowingly awarded small business subcontracts to front companies. In a status update filed Friday with Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. of U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington, the federal agency said it was ready to execute a settlement agreement or move forward with litigation. It said it “will likely oppose any request for additional time.”
In its own status update Monday, Washington Closure said it wanted another 21 days to file a settlement agreement. It had reached a tentative deal with the Department of Justice in January, after two of the subcontractors named in the lawsuit had already accepted settlements.
Since the first of the year Mendoza has granted three extensions in the case to allow the remaining parties to work out final details of the settlement agreement, with the last extension expiring Friday.
The Department of Justice told the judge on Friday that Washington Closure has indicated that to resolve the litigation it needs to resolve certain issues related to closing out its contract with the Energy Department. The issues do not have a direct bearing on the lawsuit, the agency said.
Washington Closure’s contract for cleanup of the Columbia River Corridor expired in September 2016 with most work completed.
Washington Closure and DOE have been working diligently to resolve issues, but some remain, federal attorneys said: “The contract negotiations may have reached a standstill” and the issue may go to the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals for resolution.”
The court earlier set a status conference for April 20, in the event a settlement agreement was not filed by April 13.
