U.S. sues Lockheed, others for alleged kickbacks on nuclear site cleanup

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 8, 2019 / 5:30 PM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO

U.S. sues Lockheed, others for alleged kickbacks on nuclear site cleanup

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has sued Lockheed Martin Corp, Lockheed Martin Services Inc, and Mission Support Alliance LLC, as well as a Lockheed executive for alleged false claims and kickbacks on a multibillion-dollar contract to clean up a nuclear site, the Justice Department said on Friday.

The complaint alleges Lockheed paid more than $1 million to Mission Support Alliance executives in order to win a $232 million subcontract for providing management and technology support at the Hanford, Washington site from 2010 through the middle of 2016 at inflated rates.

It also says the defendants lied about the amount of profit included in Lockheed’s billing rates.

-snip-

The large 586-square mile Hanford nuclear site in southern Washington, established during World War Two to produce plutonium, is considered the biggest environmental cleanup in U.S. history. It is administered by the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Washington.

Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Mike Stone; editing by Chris Reese

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lockheed/u-s-sues-lockheed-others-for-alleged-kickbacks-on-nuclear-site-cleanup-idUSKCN1PX2EL

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Source: U.S. Department of Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 8, 2019

United States Files False Claims Act Suit Against Mission Support Alliance LLC, Several Lockheed Affiliates, and Jorge Francisco Armijo for Inflated Information Technology Subcontract Costs

The United States has filed suit against Mission Support Alliance LLC (MSA), Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC), Lockheed Martin Services Inc. (LMSI), and Jorge Francisco Armijo for alleged false claims and kickbacks in connection with a multi-billion dollar contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) to support the environmental cleanup at the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, the Justice Department announced today. MSA is a Delaware Limited Liability Corporation that, during the time alleged in the lawsuit, was owned by Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology LLC, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., and Centerra Group (formerly G4S Government Solutions, and, prior to that, Wackenhut Services Inc.). Both Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology and LMSI were wholly-owned subsidiaries of LMC. Mr. Armijo is a Vice President of LMC and also served as a President of MSA during the time period in question.

“Where Congress has allocated money for specific purposes, we will not tolerate unlawful conduct by contractors who seek to enhance their profits at the expense of taxpayers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “This lawsuit demonstrates that the Department of Justice will work tirelessly to ensure that public funds are used for the important purposes for which they are intended.”

The multi-billion dollar MSA Contract with DOE required MSA to provide a number of site-wide services to DOE and to other contractors involved in the clean-up of the Hanford Site. The allegations in the complaint relate to the management and technology solution services that MSA agreed to provide at Hanford. In January 2010, without competition, MSA awarded its affiliate, LMSI, a $232 million subcontract to perform that work from Jan. 1, 2010 through June 2016.

The United States’ complaint alleges that the defendants knowingly made or caused false statements to the DOE regarding the amount of profit included in the billing rates for LMSI under the subcontract it was awarded by its affiliate, MSA. The complaint also alleges that the defendants’ claims for these inflated rates violated the False Claims Act.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-files-false-claims-act-suit-against-mission-support-alliance-llc-several

[Tikki]

1. 'We will not tolerate unlawful conduct by contractors"...ha ha ha...what a load of BS.

Hanford has sh*t buried there near on 70 years.
How many contractors do you think have come and gone during that time!!

All nuke is a racket..at the tax-payers expense. Hanford, especially, is troublesome and has been
for a very, very, very long time.

Cue the pro-nuke coming here and saying...But, but, but....

The Tikkis

[Finishline42]

2. Storage of spent fuel rods is mostly on site and the cost is part of the reason nuclear power is

Storage of spent fuel rods is mostly on site and the cost is part of the reason nuclear power is more expensive to produce than the cost to build new wind and solar. BTW, each plant adds tons of them every year to those storage facilities.

What happens when a nuclear power plant is too expensive to run or is shut down? Where does the money come from to maintain the storage of those spent fuel rods? Exactly - from consumers.

Every time power from wind and solar is being used it drives up the cost of coal, nuclear and gas by reducing the amount of time that fixed costs can be spread when operational.

[Tikki]

3. Not just direct consumers, but from all tax-payers.

The TIKKIS

[hunter]

4. There's a weird symbiosis between anti-nuclear activists and cleanup contractors at Hanford.

Neither group wants to be done with it.

[Tikki]

5. Not really....

We know plenty of long time local residents and winders from in and around that area and watching a family member get sick is pretty much a direct link to activism right then and there.

The Tikkis

[hunter]

6. I'm very familiar with this, and more.

My father-in-law was used as a guinea pig in nuclear testing. He got to witness an atomic bomb explosion up close from a hole in the ground and then march towards ground zero, stuff burning all around, the mushroom cloud rising into the sky. Afterwards they disposed of their clothing (which is still buried somewhere in Nevada), and they scrubbed the fallout off of themselves in field showers. Eventually it was officially acknowledged that some of his fellow guinea pigs did die sooner than they would have because of it. My wife's dad knows that could have been him.

My own times as an anti-nuclear activist were intense, names changed to protect the innocent, my dumpster diving self not among the innocent. I quit high school in the mid 'seventies and the decade after that was a wild ride, with three intermissions of university science education. (Yes, I did graduate eventually...)

I burned a lot of gasoline on highway 101, between Humboldt Bay and San Onofre. I hung out with people like Helen Caldicott. I protested Diablo Canyon and wasn't far from Jerry Brown when he proclaimed No more nukes in California, after Diablo Canyon.

There are worse things than nuclear power, and bigger messes than the Hanford Site in this world.

I stand by my words.