A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Energy & Process Corporation.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed Energy & Process Corporation (E&P) of Tucker, Georgia, knowingly failed to perform required quality assurance procedures and supplied defective steel reinforcing bars (rebar) in connection with a contract to construct a Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear waste treatment facility.
According to the Department of Justice, allegedly Department of Energy (DOE) paid Energy & Process Corporation (E&P) a premium to supply rebar that met stringent regulatory standards for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication and Reactor Irradiation Services facility in the DOE’s Savannah River site near Aiken, South Carolina, but that E&P failed to perform most of the necessary quality assurance measures, while falsely certifying that those requirements had been met. In addition, allegedly one-third of the rebar supplied by E&P and used in the construction was found to be defective.
Reportedly, E&P replaced some of the defective rebar. The settlement award will also go to the replacement costs incurred by E&P.
“Compliance with contract requirements is expected by all who contract with the U.S. government, but is especially critical in connection with the construction of a nuclear facility,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler said in a statement.
These allegations were brought forward by Deborah Cook, a former employee of the prime contractor that subcontracted with E&P in the course of building the DOE facility. The whistleblowers' share of the settlement has not been determined.
