The US Department of Justice, on behalf of other agencies, has entered into a settlement agreement with defendants over the false claims in the Runway Rehabilitation airport settlement. If you wish to know the settlement and the lawsuit, you can find the full details here.
False Claims Runway Rehabilitation Airport Settlement USA
The US Attorney of Massachusetts has announced the settlement agreement with three firms – Eurovia Atlantic Coast d/b/a Northeast Pavings, Lane Construction Corp., and Stantec Consulting Services, over false claims, fraud, and misrepresentations of the complete work during the runway Rehabilitation project at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.
The attorney claimed that the violations led to safety concerns and worsened the condition of the runway. The settlement agreement led to Lane Construction, Northeast Pavings, and Stantec Consulting accepting and taking responsibility for the conduct.
The three firms will pay $1.37 million to resolve the Settlement related to the runway construction at the Airport from the total $4.5 million funds. The defendants will pay separately to the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from the $4.5 billion settlement funds.
What’s the False Claims Runway Rehabilitation Airport Settlement about?
The Westfield Barnes Airport is one of the important air bases for the military too, as it is an operational center for the Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing that provides the fighter pilots to perform the alert mission over the northeastern US.
Westfield City began the rehabilitation of Runway 2-20 in 2012 with state, federal, and local funds, which include the Department of Defense and the US DOT. The city and Stantec formed an agreement to design and provide engineering services, project management, and bidding support for the project in 2013.
Later, the city agreed with Lane Construction to complete the runway rehabilitation, and after the completion, the Northeast purchased Lane’s construction assets. However, in 2019, the runway had some cracks in the concrete area that led to false claims by the contractors. The lawsuit alleges that the three firms, through the lawsuit:
- The project specified that the operators were required to build a track between the concrete inlay and the area around the asphalt. But the lawsuit alleges that the track was never built, which led to the crack.
- The lawsuit alleged that the companies had falsely certified that the runway rehabilitation met the project requirements.
- The lawsuit alleged that the defendants misrepresented their work and wasted the taxpayer’s money, and impacted military safety.
What are the settlement terms under the Runway Rehabilitation settlement?
Under the Runway Rehabilitation settlement, the defendant will pay a total $4.5 million, let’s see the distribution of funds:
- $1.37 million settlement Fund:
- $1.37 million settlement fund will be used to resolve the false claims related to the Runway Rehabilitation. The settlement fund will be paid to the United States, where the $85,063 is restitution paid to the DOD.
- The agreement states that if the companies delay the payment, they will be charged a 4.33% annual rate from 25 March 2025, which will increase the payment.
- Each firm will bear one-third of the settlement fund and pay the amount to the United States.
- $3.13 million fund:
- The three firms will pay the $3.13 million to the Commonwealth under the terms of the Commonwealth as per the agreement.
What are the other provisions under the settlement?
The three firms have agreed on the settlement fund, but apart from the monetary compensation, they have also agreed to the following conditions:
- The firms should identify the unallowable costs within 90 days of the agreement becoming effective (dated 27 July 2025) and repay by adjustment to future claims or directly.
- The government has the right to recoup the unallowable costs to recover the overpayments, and they can add a penalty or interest to the wrongly incurred costs.
The unallowable costs are billed to the agencies by the three firms; hence, the settlement opens the door for the financial correction regarding the company’s misrepresentation of the work.
The US agencies hold the three firms accountable for the false claims of runway rehabilitation at Westfield-Barnes Airport through this lawsuit, as they fail to meet the project requirements.
