The Department of Energy's Inspector General's office is investigating a former Hanford glassification plant subcontractor.

The reason for the investigation of GN Northern Inc. of Yakima was unknown Wednesday evening.

When contacted Wednesday evening, Erik Olds, spokesman for DOE's Office of River Protection, said he could not be sure whether that agency reported any irregularities about GN Northern to the Inspector General's office, but added he was unaware of any complaints.

GN Northern did soil sampling and testing for Bechtel National as part of the construction of a central Hanford complex to convert underground tanks' radioactive wastes into glass, said John Britton, Bechtel spokesman. The contract was "for less than $1 million."

GN Northern worked for Bechtel for about 15 months until its contract was terminated because of quality assurance problems, Britton said.

Quality assurance regulations have demanding paperwork requirements, which are sometimes hard for small businesses to meet, he said. "They didn't meet our expectations."

Bechtel awarded the contract to GN Northern as part of an effort to provide Hanford work to local small businesses.

Britton said Bechtel and GN Northern are discussing the details of closing out the contract, including required audits, but no obvious financial disputes had surfaced.

Jim Shively, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, told The Associated Press that GN Northern is being investigated and that DOE investigators served a search warrant Tuesday on the company's Yakima office. He declined to provide additional information.

No charges have been filed, Shively said.

Imran Magsi of Selah, president of GN Northern, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.