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Hanford whistleblower settles for $4.1M

The Columbian
Published: August 12, 2015, 5:00pm

SPOKANE — A whistleblower on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has reached a $4.1 million settlement with his former employer on the former nuclear weapons production site near Richland, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Walter Tamosaitis was a manager at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant, where he worked for subcontractor URS Inc., which is now known as AECOM. He was removed from his position in 2010 after raising safety concerns about the construction of the giant plant, and eventually fired in 2013.

AECOM, which acquired URS in October, said it reached the settlement to avoid the cost of litigation.

“The company strongly disagrees that it retaliated against him in any manner,” AECOM said in a press release. “The company has not tolerated, and will not tolerate, retaliation or harassment in any form against anyone who raises a safety issue in good faith. The company is pleased to put this matter behind us and continue with the important cleanup work at the Hanford site.”

The settlement followed five years of legal fights. A trial had been set for 2016.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and now is engaged in the cleanup of the nation’s largest collection of radioactive waste.

The $12.2 billion Waste Treatment Plant, whose construction is stalled, is intended to convert the most dangerous wastes into glass for eventual burial.

“We are very pleased that Walter can get on with his life after five years of litigation, and that he has been vindicated,” said his attorney, Jack Sheridan of Seattle. “This settlement sends a message to whistleblowers everywhere that integrity and truth are worth fighting for”

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