Alutiiq Logistics & Maintenance Services failed to comply with contractual obligations to provide certain services at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Albuqeruqe complex in New Mexico, the Department of Energy Inspector General said.
The Department of Energy’s Inspector General substantiated eight allegations of contractual noncompliance by Alutiiq Logistics & Maintenance Services, the facility and maintenance contractor at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Albuquerque facility, located on Kirtland Air Force Base. The facility houses administrative personnel and a training center. Although the Air Force will not confirm it, Kirtland is a storage depot for nuclear weapons.
According to the Inspector General’s report, Alutiiq:
- Did not have adequate emergency management plans;
- Did not have a compliant quality control plan;
- Did not know how to properly use the computerized maintenance management system program;
- Closed out work orders without completing required work;
- Did not hire qualified tradesmen;
- Did not have a safety manager;
- Had staff retention issues due to low wages; and
- Did not correct noncompliances found during the September 2020 NNSA Office of Worker Safety and Health Services site assist review. We did not substantiate the allegation that
The Inspector General did not substantiate an allegation that Alutiiq “was not completing forklift inspections and was falsifying inspection documents,” according to the report.
NNSA awarded the current $50-million Albuquerque maintenance contract to Alutiiq Logistics & Maintenance Services in February 2020. The company was the incumbent at the time of the award and had also had “performance issues” on the previous contract which NNSA awarded to Alutiiq Pacific in 2014.
The Inspector General said there were more than $1 million worth of paid positions in Alutiiq’s ranks that were vacant. The NNSA said the contractor “routinely accomplished work scope using subcontractor labor to offset the vacancies,” and that the government in any event might not be “entitled to recoup the cost of vacant positions” because the contract is a fixed firm price accord.
NNSA will determine by Sept. 30, 2023 whether Alutiiq is in default of its contractual obligations, according to a letter from the agency appended to the inspector General’s report.
