New probe at Flats

Contractor accused of pitching gear to speed site cleanup

Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 18, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

Federal inspectors said Wednesday they are reopening an investigation into allegations that the contractor that cleaned up Rocky Flats threw away massive amounts of new tools and equipment to collect $170 million in bonuses for its fast and efficient work.

"After further consideration, we have decided to reopen this matter," said Marilyn Richardson, spokeswoman for the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General. She would not elaborate on the statement or discuss why the decision was made.

The turnabout follows an April 22 Rocky Mountain News report on the complaints of several former workers at the site who said the contractor, Kaiser-Hill, engaged in the hurried disposal of usable tools and supplies.

The materials, often still in unopened packaging and probably worth millions of dollars, were tossed as part of the company's strategy to quickly clear the former nuclear weapons plant 16 miles west of Denver, the workers alleged.

The News reported that workers said they saw a wide range of equipment pitched into waste containers for burial at disposal sites in Utah and Nevada. Items included motors, paint sprayers, jackhammers and drills, along with myriad plumbing and electrical supplies.

The story quoted one worker, 30-year employee Barb Smith, describing the level of waste as "the ugliest thing I'd ever seen."

John Corsi, a spokesman for Kaiser-Hill, said the company was unaware that federal inspectors were re-examining the matter. Corsi, as he did in the previous News story, challenged the claim that Kaiser- Hill disposed of useful equipment in the rush to finish the job.

He said that proving some material wasn't contaminated with radioactivity was costly and time-consuming. The company, he said, followed strict government guidelines in dealing with the equipment.

In addition, Corsi pointed out, the company auctioned off more than 1 million pieces of equipment, bringing in about $6 million.

"The government had rigorous standards, and we followed those standards," he said. "If the inspector general is going to look into it, I'm quite confident we're going to come out unscathed."

Corsi added that the company made "conservative decisions on the disposition of property that were cost-driven . . . every dollar we saved the taxpayer, we earned 25 cents. There would be no incentives for us to throw valuable equipment away."

But several workers said they witnessed rampant waste, particularly in the latter phases of the cleanup, when managers didn't want to lose time trying to find proper homes for so much material.

Kaiser-Hill's contract with DOE was built around speed. In its second cleanup contract with the agency, signed in 2000, Kaiser-Hill earned rewards based on how much its costs came in under the target budget of $3.96 billion, and for beating a March 2006 deadline for finishing the job.

Most of the $170 million in bonuses the company earned were for coming in under the target budget by more than $400 million. But those cost savings, much of which came through cutting payroll, were tied directly to cleaning up the site quickly, a DOE official familiar with the contract previously explained to the News.

"It's not very conceivable that any company could have reduced costs in any other fashion than finishing early, so the two are very closely linked," Charlie Dan, a contracting officer with DOE, said in April.

Steven Weber, a former Rocky Flats worker who first complained to the inspector general's office about what he believed were wasteful practices in 2004, said he is suspicious about the OIG's desire to reopen the case.

In his view, the agency never investigated the matter in the first place.

That's because during the OIG's initial investigation, inspectors never interviewed Weber or other Flats workers about their allegations, he said.

"There's no way they could have investigated anything without interviewing (other workers) or myself, who filed the (complaint)," Weber said.

"How could they do an (investigation) without talking to the complainants?"

Kaiser-Hill, too, was never made aware of an investigation into the waste allegations, Corsi said.

But another document suggested there may have been some kind of investigation: In a January e-mail to Weber, an OIG official said the agency had "reviewed your concerns regarding the waste of DOE property and mismanagement at Rocky Flats. Our review did not reveal waste of DOE property in this instance."

That same month, the News sought documents produced by the OIG investigation under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents were never provided. On Wednesday, an OIG official said the News' request would be turned down because the case was being reopened.

"We are looking at the allegations again," said Adrienne Martin, of the inspector general's office.

Separately, Weber asked OIG for copies of documents related to the investigation into his complaints. But he, too, has never been provided any paperwork.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5048

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News