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About POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)

The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

CH2M Hill Companies, Ltd.

CH2M Hill provides engineering, construction, and operations services for corporate and governmental clients. Its areas of expertise include water and wastewater resources, transportation, government and military facility maintenance, energy, environment, biotechnology, and information systems. The company has more than 15,000 employees working in nearly 200 offices worldwide and annual gross revenues of $4 billion.

Federal Contract $: $3362.3m

Total Number of Instances: 7

Total Misconduct dollar amount: $ 2.8m

Instances of Misconduct

1. DOE Enforcement Action (2005)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Price-Anderson Enforcement at the Hanford Tank Farms issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) citing violations of CH2M Hill Hanford Group “involving four radiological and operational events occurring during 2003 and 2004. The events included (1) the June 2003 multiple personnel contamination event …; (2) the November 2003 Technical Safety Requirement violation during a cross-site waste transfer; (3) the November 2003 valve positioning error during S-112 waste retrieval operations; and (4) the July 2004 extremity exposure during thermocouple removal activities.”... more»

2. DOE Enforcement Action (2003)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Price-Anderson Enforcement at the Hanford Tank Farms issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) citing violations of CH2M Hill Hanford Group (CHG) involving “noncompliances in the areas of (1) quality improvement, for which compensatory and/or longer term corrective actions identified and implemented by CHG failed to correct known quality problems, (2) management and independent assessments which lacked both the frequency and depth of review that would be expected from an effective management or independent assessment program, (3) work processes which demonstrated numerous failures to follow established procedure, and (4) organizational behavior in which some CHG personnel demonstrated a profound inattention to detail, reluctance to report events, and attempts to conceal saltwell overfills.”... more»

3. Lewis v. CH2M Hill Hanford Group (Whistleblower Reprisal)

Lloyd Stone and Steve Lewis each filed individual complaints with the Department of Labor alleging discrimination and a pattern of reprisal on the part of CH2M Hanford Group, Inc. in violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of various environmental laws. Prior to the scheduled trial date, the plaintiffs submitted their consolidated claim to a settlement judge at the Office of Administrative Law Judges, who facilitated a settlement in December 2003, the terms of which all parties agreed to keep confidential.... more»

4. Quality Problems With Piping at Waste Facility

On July 25, 2000 the Department of Energy issued a consent order incorporating an agreement with CH2M Hill Hanford Group, Inc. following an investigation that found quality problems with “the procurement of safety class piping for the W-314 Project at the Tank Farm Waste Remediation System...Workers identified deficiencies with piping welds when they removed piping from a container. The deficiencies could have resulted in significant consequences to the public and the environment.” Following an investigation by the company, the DOE concluded that further investigation was unnecessary and the company was taking adequate measures to address the issues. In lieu of any subsequent investigation, notice of violation and imposition of a civil penalty, CH2M agreed to remit a $50,000 monetary remedy.... more»

5. Violation of the Clean Water Act

In January 2006, a CH2M subsidiary “entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. The DPA relates to a previously disclosed investigation of a Clean Water Act (CWA) violation at [two] wastewater treatment facilities in Connecticut. Pursuant to the DPA, [the] subsidiary will contribute $2.0 million to community projects and take other agreed upon steps to enhance CWA compliance procedures at the two wastewater treatment facilities in Connecticut...The violation related to failure to comply with sampling and reporting requirements of the CWA and there is no evidence the violation resulted in harm to human health or the environment.”... more»

6. Owens Valley Dust Mitigation Contracts Overbilling

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power filed a federal lawsuit against CH2M Hill alleging it and its subcontractors overbilled the utility on contracts to control dust on the dry bed of Owens Lake. The lawsuit alleged that CH2M Hill conspired to defraud the DWP by preparing and approving artificially inflated work invoices. An audit conducted in 2007 found several instances of questionable charges totaling approximately $2.6 million. The lawsuit was settled in July 2009 for an undisclosed amount.... more»

7. Radioactive Waste Spill at Hanford Tank Farm

A U.S. Department of Energy investigation of a July 27, 2007 radioactive waste spill in the vicinity of the S-102 retrieval pump at the Hanford Tank Farm found CH2M Hill Hanford Group, Inc. committed nine nuclear safety violations and led to a proposed civil penalty of $302,500. According to the DOE’s letter accompanying the preliminary notice of violation (PNOV), “DOE is concerned by both the longstanding engineering lapses underlying the event, and the deficiencies in appropriate recognition and response.”... more»