The federal government is suing a prime Hanford contractor, alleging the company engaged in “systemic and fraudulent” overcharging for fire protection work at the nuclear site north of Richland.

The company’s “knowing and fraudulent conduct resulted in the loss of many millions of dollars to the United States, while jeopardizing the safety of Hanford site workers, the public, and the environment by failing to effectively use public dollars to perform critical fire protection work,” prosecutors wrote in a 40-page complaint filed on Jan. 24 in federal court in Spokane.

The contractor, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, or HMIS, provides infrastructure and site services at Hanford under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE. The contract started in January 2021.

In a statement, HMIS officials said they’re cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General and DOE on the matter. 

“We are committed to resolution and identifying opportunities for continuous enhancements to increase our effectiveness as a DOE contractor. HMIS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethics and integrity in everything we do,” the statement said.

The company’s work at Hanford includes inspecting, testing and maintaining fire protection systems, among other duties.

In the complaint, prosecutors allege that company officials didn’t appropriately plan and schedule work for fire protection employees, resulting in significant idle time. 

Employees sometimes napped, watched TV or movies — in one case, the film “There’s Something About Mary” — and engaged in other personal activities during that idle time, the complaint said. 

Yet, DOE still was charged for that time, with employees instructed by supervisors and management to bill to training or other legitimate charge codes, the complaint said. 

HMIS also scheduled unnecessary overtime for employees, the complaint said.

“Fire safety at Hanford is critical to the health of the public, workers, and the environment. It is inexcusable to think that a well-paid contractor entrusted with this critical task to protect our community would fraudulently bill DOE for idle time spent watching movies and literally sleeping on the job, all while putting the public at risk when critical work went uncompleted,” said U. S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref in a statement. “We will continue to work hand-in-glove with our law enforcement partners to end fraud and corruption at Hanford and support environmental remediation.”

The case originally was brought by an HMIS sprinkler fitter, Bradley Keever, in December 2021 under the False Claims Act. His complaint — which also named Mission Support Alliance, the mission support contractor before HMIS — was kept under seal while federal officials investigated. 

It recently was made public.

“The False Claims Act is the government’s most powerful tool to combat fraud, and incentivizes those who ‘see something’ to ‘say something.’ We are proud to represent Mr. Keever and to partner with the U.S. government to return stolen dollars to the federal government and to protect the Hanford facility from the pervasive culture of fraud that has developed there,” said Richard Condit of Mehri & Skalet, one of Keever’s attorneys, in a statement. 

Keever also is represented by attorneys from Smith & Lowney and Hanford Challenge.

Under the False Claims Act, the government can recover up to three times the damages caused, plus additional penalties, the information from federal prosecutors said. 

The whistleblower generally is eligible to share in the recovery, it said.