A Middle East sister operation of New Jersey-based aggregate, asphalt and ready mixed producer Colas USA has agreed to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by delivering substandard concrete to U.S. Navy airfields in the Republic of Djibouti, nestled between Ethiopia and the strait linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Settlements with the Department of Justice will sunset a seven-year-old case that commenced after Colas Djibouti SARL informed the Department of Defense that materials supplied to U.S. Navy Facilities Engineering projects did not meet contract specifications.
The $3.9 million civil settlement resolves allegations that Colas Djibouti knowingly provided contractually noncompliant concrete that did not meet gradation requirements, contained excessive alkali-silica reactive material, and exhibited elevated chloride content. Such conditions have the potential to promote early-age cracking, surface defects, and embedded steel corrosion, Justice officials contend, and could significantly impair the long-term durability of concrete on U.S. military bases.