SEATTLE (AP) – Bechtel National Inc. and a subcontractor have agreed to pay $125 million to settle a lawsuit alleging subpar work in building a nuclear waste treatment facility on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state, along with accusations that Bechtel illegally used taxpayer money for lobbying.
The settlement, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Spokane, resolves a lawsuit initially brought in 2013 by three whistleblowers – managers at the nuclear site who sued on behalf of the federal government because they worried about safety issues at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant.
The waste is currently stored in aging underground tanks, dozens of which are leaking, threatening the Columbia River nearby.
Once completed, the multibillion-dollar facility is supposed to convert 56 million gallons of radioactive nuclear waste left over from the government’s nuclear weapons program into glass for safe storage deep underground. But in joining the whistleblowers’ lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department said that for 13 years, Bechtel and subcontractor URS Corp. knowingly charged the Department of Energy for materials and services that failed to meet rigorous standards for nuclear facilities.
The government’s investigation showed that the companies “recklessly purchased deficient materials and services with taxpayer money,” said Spokane U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby, which he called “deeply concerning given the obvious importance of nuclear safety” at the plant.