Engineered Demolition, Inc. v. United States

70 Fed. Cl. 580, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 77, 2006 WL 786926
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 28, 2006
DocketNo. 03-2231C
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 70 Fed. Cl. 580 (Engineered Demolition, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Engineered Demolition, Inc. v. United States, 70 Fed. Cl. 580, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 77, 2006 WL 786926 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

In this contract dispute, the government has moved for partial dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) and for summary judgment. Plaintiff, Engineered Demolition, Inc. (“Engineered Demolition”), seeks to recover $107,987 in additional costs, plus interest, allegedly incurred in completing a contract entered with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps” or “Corps of Engineers”) for the “removal, transportation, and disposal of radiologically contaminated material” located at the Hazelwood Interim Storage Site (“HISS”) in St. Louis County, Missouri. See Contract Documents Filed Pursuant to Court’s Order Dated February 3, 2006 (“Supp.Materials”) at 234 (Contract Section C: Summary of Work HIT 1.1, 1.2.1). Engineered Demolition claims $69,047 in under-absorbed overhead costs due to a shortfall in the amount of radioactive material that it excavated and transported from HISS. Engineered Demolition also sponsors the claim of its subcontractor, Greenfield Logistics, LLC (“Greenfield”), for $38,940 in damages that Greenfield allegedly incurred through leasing gondola rail cars that were not used due to the shortfall in material.

This is the second time that the government has moved to dismiss Engineered Demolition’s complaint. After the complaint was filed on September 26, 2003, the government submitted a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, contending that Engineered Demolition had failed to satisfy the certification requirement set out in Section 6(c) of the Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”), 41 U.S.C. § 605(c), applicable to claims that exceed $100,000. See Engineered Demolition, Inc. v. United States, 60 Fed.Cl. 822 (2004). The court denied the government’s motion, holding that Engineered Demolition’s and Greenfield’s claims were “sep[582]*582arate and independent in nature” and thus the certification requirement was inapplicable because neither claim was above $100,000. Id. at 831.

Ordinarily, the court would not entertain a second round of potentially dispositive motions. However, this second set of motions turns in large part on information developed as a result of discovery and preparation for trial, and consequently the pending motions are not merely a reprise of or derivative from the earlier motion.

The parties have fully briefed their positions and a hearing on the government’s motions was held February 3, 2006. For the reasons stated below, the government’s motion for partial dismissal is denied and its motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND1

On July 24, 2001, the Corps of Engineers issued Solicitation No. DACW43-01-R-0702 seeking bids for the “removal, transportation, and disposal of radiologically contaminated material located in the Main Pile, and engineering controls to control offsite spread of contamination from the HISS site.” Supp. Materials at 1 (Solicitation), 234 (Contract Section C: Summary of Work 111.2.1). Engineered Demolition submitted its offer on August 9, 2001, id. at 228, and ultimately the Corps entered into a firm-fixed-price contract with Engineered Demolition on August 31, 2001 for a contract price of $2,301,894.67. Id. at 227 (Contract No. DACW43-01-C-0426, signature page); Compl. UH 7-8. The period for performance on this contract was fixed at 90 days. Compl. H 10. This contract was the final installment of four such contracts between the Corps and Engineered Demolition for the complete removal, transportation, and disposal of radiologically contaminated material at HISS. Id. If 7; Plaintiff’s Response to Defendant’s Proposed Findings of Uneontroverted Facts (“PL’s Response to Def.’s Facts”) 113; Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (“Def.’s Mot.”) Appendix (“App.”) at 74 (Declaration of David E. Mueller, Authorized Representative of the Contracting Officer (Sept. 15, 2005)) H 2. This fourth and final contract was denominated as “HISS 4.” See Def.’s Mot. App. at 74 112.

Engineered Demolition was responsible for removing the main pile of contaminated material in accord with the specifications in the contract. Supp. Materials at 335 (Contract Section C: Soil Removal If 3.1). These specifications were set out in contract drawings that the government provided to potential offerors as part of the solicitation and which thereafter were incorporated into the contract. Those drawings included the existing site plan, a final site plan, and cross sections of the portion of the site to be excavated. Id. at 357-58 (Contract Section H: Special Contract Requirements), 451-56 (Contract Drawings). The areas of the pile designated for excavation were to be removed “true-to-grade” such that the “[sjurface [of the area on which the pile was located would] be finished not more than 0.10 feet above or below the established grade or approved cross-section.” Id. at 336 (Contract Section C: Soil Removal 113.4). The contract also mandated, upon the work’s completion, that the contractor restore the designated mobilization and work area to its condition as it existed prior to the commencement of the project. Id. at 312 (Contract Section C: Temporary Construction Activities H 1.11), 333 (Contract Section C: Soil Removal 11.2).

Payment under the contract was to proceed on a specified schedule. Supp. Materials at 229 (Contract Section B: Bidding Schedule), 236-37 (Contract Section C: Measure and Payment 1111 1.2, 1.3). For the seven items of work listed in the schedule, the contractor would be paid either by lump-sum payments or unit-price payments. Id. at 236-37. The lump-sum prices proposed by Engineered Demolition and accepted by the Corps for five of the seven work items “constitute[d] full compensation for furnishing all plant, labor and materials” for those services. Id. at 236 111.2. For example, site restoration, work number 0020, was paid by lump [583]*583sum and included the “installation of (new) separation/filtration geotextile material, the importation and placement of clean topsoil, fine grading, and revegetation.” Id. at 231 (Contract Section B: Bidding Schedule Notes H 8). With respect to items covered by the other payment mode, unit-price payments, offerors proposed a unit price and a total dollar amount based on quantities furnished by the Corps for each of the two work items to be compensated in this fashion: Main Pile Removal and Disposal—Rail Transportation. See Pl.’s Response to Def.’s Facts 114; see also Supp. Materials at 237 111.3 (stating that “[t]he unit price and payment made for each item listed [would] constitute full compensation for furnishing all labor, materials, and equipment” for those services). The pile-removal item included all work to remove the main pile of contaminated waste material and load it onto rail cars for transport and disposal. Id. at 231 (Contract Section B: Bidding Schedule Notes 116). The rail-transportation item encompassed the transportation by rail to a third-party commercial facility in Utah of all the material that had been excavated from the main pile. Id. at 231 (Contract Section B: Bidding Schedule Notes 117), 336 (Contract Section C: Soil Removal H 3.3); see also id. at 321 (Contract Section C: Transportation of Hazardous Materials Requirements § 02120). Pursuant to the contract, “[a]ll

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Bluebook (online)
70 Fed. Cl. 580, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 77, 2006 WL 786926, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/engineered-demolition-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.