(The Center Square) – A private contracting firm working at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state has been accused of fraudulently overbilling the federal government for millions of dollars in labor costs.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington filed a civil court complaint against Hanford Mission Integration Solutions LLC for breach of contract and three counts of violating the federal False Claims Act.

Prosecutors allege that HMIS employees responsible for fire protection and fire systems management at the Hanford site were often idle on a near-daily basis between January 2021 and October 2023 due to the company’s scheduling failures, but still billed the Energy department by “falsely representing that work had been performed.”

“… during this extensive idle time, HMIS fire protection personnel took naps, watched movies and television, and engaged in other personal activity not related to performing work,” the complaint states.

Authorities say HMIS supervisors and management were “fully aware” of such situations and sometimes directed employees to account for their 10-hour, Monday-through-Thursday work days by claiming they were “in training.”

Additionally, HMIS scheduled “substantial overtime” for fire protection workers on Fridays and weekends, resulting in fraudulent bills submitted at “premium pay rates” to the Department of Energy, the complaint alleged.

“Fire safety at Hanford is critical to the health of the public, workers, and the environment,” U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref said in a news release Wednesday. “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.”

The investigation was conducted by DOE’s Office of Inspector General. Authorities said the case originated after a sprinkler fitter in the fire protection group filed a whistleblower complaint in federal court, spurring an investigation to determine whether intervention was warranted.

A response to the complaint had not yet been filed in court by HMIS, which is owned by three companies: Leidos Integrated Technology of Reston, Virginia; Centerra Group LLC of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and Parsons Government Services of Centreville, Virginia.

Under the False Claims Act, the U.S. government can recover up to three times the amount of verified damages and can share a portion of recovered funds with the whistleblower. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday a determination of liability had not yet been established. But the 40-page complaint cites specific instances of billings for personnel who had little or no work assigned to them and 69 invoices listing labor costs ranging between $1.5 million and $29 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frieda Zimmerman, Molly Smith and Dan Fruchter are handling the civil case.

DOE’s 580-square-mile Hanford Nuclear Site is located near the Tri-Cities in southeast Washington. It was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons including bombs dropped on Japan during the final days of World War II. Since the late 1980s, DOE has engaged in extensive environmental cleanup and decommissioning operations that include treatment of large quantities of radioactive and hazardous wastes.