The government has intervened in a lawsuit against CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc.
CH2M Hill is a subsidiary of CH2M Hill Companies Ltd., a Colorado-based engineering and construction services company.
Between 1999 and 2008, CH2M Hill was a U.S. Department of Energy prime contractor responsible for the management and cleanup of over 170 underground storage tanks containing mixed radioactive and hazardous waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington.
The lawsuit was originally filed under the False Claims Act by Carl Schroeder, a former employee of CH2M Hill.
The lawsuit alleges that numerous CH2M Hill hourly employees regularly and substantially overstated the number of hours that they worked.
The complaint also alleges that CH2M Hill management knowingly condoned this practice and submitted inflated claims to the Department of Energy that included the fraudulently claimed hours.
Five former CH2M Hill employees, including Schroeder, have pled guilty to felony charges stemming from the time card fraud.
A sixth CH2M Hill employee has also been charged and is scheduled to enter a guilty plea later this month.