Tetra Tech unit settles False Claims Act case over Hunters Point testing for $57 million

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Tetra Tech Hunters Point settlement

Highlights

Tetra Tech EC Inc. agreed to pay $57 million to settle False Claims Act allegations related to falsified soil testing at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
Whistleblowers involved in the case will collectively receive approximately $11.97 million from the settlement recovery as part of the resolution.
The U.S. secured an additional $40 million settlement under CERCLA on July 2, 2025, reinforcing heightened enforcement of environmental remediation contract compliance.

Federal allegations and settlement terms

As reported by U.S. Department of Justice, Tetra Tech EC Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tetra Tech, Inc., paid $57 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations tied to work at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in the San Francisco Bay.

The government alleges that under Navy contracts issued between 2003 and 2014, the company is required to investigate soil and buildings at the site and remediate areas where radiation is excessive before the property can be transferred to the City of San Francisco for redevelopment. The complaint alleges Tetra Tech directs field technicians to discard soil samples from potentially contaminated locations, replace them with "clean" soil that meets release criteria and submit those replacement samples for laboratory analysis. It also alleges the company intentionally manipulates scan results in its database to falsely show that scans taken at different locations are conducted by the same technician at the same time.

Federal authorities say the misconduct allows the contractor to collect unearned award fees and avoid additional remediation obligations, reducing costs and increasing profits. The Justice Department says the claims resolved in the settlement remain allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Whistleblower payout and broader enforcement impact

The settlement resolves consolidated qui tam cases brought by former employees and contractors of Tetra Tech under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The relators, Arthur R. Jahr III, Elbert G. Bowers, Susan V. Andrews, Archie R. Jackson, Anthony Smith, Donald K. Wadsworth and Robert McLean, are set to receive about $11.97 million from the recovery.

The matter is handled by the Justice Department's Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch and Civil Fraud Section, together with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, with support from NCIS, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The Department of Justice also says the U.S. recovers another $40 million in a separate settlement under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 2, 2025.

Federal officials say the case underscores continued scrutiny of government contractors working on environmental remediation and military-linked cleanup projects. For San Francisco and the wider environmental services sector, the resolution highlights the financial and legal risks tied to data integrity, contract compliance and public safety obligations on legacy redevelopment sites.

In our earlier report on the AiNET Corp. $1.8 million False Claims Act settlement, we outlined federal allegations that the contractor misrepresented data center compliance and inspection claims tied to an SEC contract. We also noted that the resolution—reached without a determination of liability—fit into a broader DOJ push to pursue fraud in federal programs and hold contractors accountable.

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