N.R. Acquisition Corp. v. United States

52 Fed. Cl. 490, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 120, 2002 WL 992746
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMay 14, 2002
DocketNo. 97-338 C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 52 Fed. Cl. 490 (N.R. Acquisition Corp. 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
N.R. Acquisition Corp. v. United States, 52 Fed. Cl. 490, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 120, 2002 WL 992746 (uscfc 2002).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

BUSH, Judge.

Currently before this court is the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment Based [491]*491upon the Asserted Special Plea in Fraud filed March 29, 2001; Plaintiffs Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment Dismissing Defendant’s Counterclaim filed October 3, 2001; and Defendant’s Request for Leave to File Supplemental Material Pertaining to the Court’s Question Concerning United States v. Ellis, filed April 9, 2002. For the following reasons, each of these respective motions is denied.

BACKGROUND

1. Factual Background

Following is an overview of the facts of this case. Plaintiff is N.R. Acquisition Corporation (NRAC), a Nevada corporation whose principal place of business is New York City. On May 7, 1993, the Department of Defense, Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) awarded NRAC Sales Contract No. 31-3359-009 for the demilitarization, scrapping, and disposal of the decommissioned Naval aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Coral Sea (the Coral Sea).2 The Coral Sea was 979 feet long, had a 238 foot beam, a 35 foot draft, and stood approximately 145 feet from the keel to the top level of the “island” atop the flight deck.

Under the terms of the contract, NRAC was to pay DRMS a fixed price amount of $748,999 for the rights to scrap the Coral Sea. NRAC was to perform the scrapping in accordance with the terms of the contract requiring compliance “with all applicable Federal, State and Local laws, ordinances, regulations, etc., with respect to human safety and the environment during the processing, use or disposal of material purchased from the Department of Defense ...” Defendant’s Appendix at 292. Then, presumably, NRAC would be able to sell the scrap materials from the vessel to recover the sum paid to DRMS, recover its costs of scrapping and disposal, and hopefully turn a profit. The contract specified dates by which demilitarization of certain ordnance equipment was to be accomplished and specified a date by which scrapping of the vessel was to be completed. NRAC was required to provide monthly progress reports to DRMS. DRMS inspected work at the facility of NRAC’s scrapping subcontractor to ensure compliance with the contract specifications concerning disposal of certain equipment from the vessel. DRMS retained authority to terminate the contract for default if NRAC failed to comply with contract specifications.

The invitation for bids (IFB) incorporated into the contract notified bidders that there were items aboard the vessel containing poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic substances regulated under federal, state, and local law. The IFB also informed bidders that the Coral Sea might contain asbestos. Pursuant to the IFB, NRAC was required to inspect the Coral Sea prior to bidding. NRAC retained a contractor, American General Resources, to inspect the Coral Sea pri- or to submitting its bid. According to plaintiff, it was not permitted to conduct any sampling of materials aboard the vessel, or similar intrusive investigations.

On March 30, 1993, NRAC was notified that it was the highest responsible bidder; the contract was awarded on May 7, 1993; and NRAC took possession of the Coral Sea on or about July 5, 1993. NRAC then subcontracted the work of scrapping the Coral Sea to Seawitch Salvage, Inc. (Seawitch; Seawitch Salvage) of Baltimore, MD. The ship was towed to a facility leased by Seaw-itch in Baltimore, and Seawitch commenced scrapping the vessel in August, 1993.

NRAC or its subcontractors tested the ship for PCB contamination as part of the planned schedule of work. NRAC states that further testing of the Coral Sea uncovered contamination not previously known to [492]*492NRAC or its subcontractors. Fluids and items that were confirmed as having regulated levels of PCBs were allegedly segregated, properly stored, and disposed of by NRAC.

NRAC alleges that during the scrapping of the Coral Sea it learned there was substantially more asbestos material on board the vessel than was represented in the IFB. NRAC also states that shortly following the commencement of the contract, Seawitch Salvage began experiencing financial problems stemming from the unanticipated costs of remediating hazardous materials aboard the Coral Sea and the alleged failure of DRMS to deliver plans of the vessel.

In October 1994, NRAC contacted DRMS and requested authorization to sell the demilitarized and partially scrapped Coral Sea to an Indian purchaser. The contract, as written, required that the scrapping take place in the United States, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands. DRMS delineated several requirements that NRAC was to meet in order for DRMS to issue such a contract modification. Despite NRAC’s attempts to satisfy these requirements and following much negotiation, DRMS ultimately concluded that it would not permit NRAC to transport the Coral Sea to India. Plaintiff states that by letter dated December 15, 1995, DRMS notified NRAC of its refusal to modify the contract to permit export of the Coral Sea hull.

With the approval of DRMS, during 1995, NRAC terminated its subcontract with Seaw-itch Salvage and replaced it with a new subcontractor, Kersand Corporation, of Glen Burnie, MD. Then in 1996, also with the approval of DRMS, NRAC terminated its subcontract with Kersand Corporation and replaced it with a new subcontractor, Patap-seo Recycling, LLC, of Baltimore, MD.

On March 12, 1996, NRAC submitted a claim for $8,871,416 to the contracting officer, claiming government-responsible changes to the contract. In this claim, NRAC set forth costs associated with its preparation for towing the hull of the Coral Sea to the Far East in the amount of $3,726,416. Plaintiff contends these claims have since grown to $4,816,416. NRAC further argues that the government, through DRMS and the U.S. Navy, “negligently and inaccurately performed a PCB survey of the Coral Sea and thereby provided NR[A]C with defective information regarding the presence of PCB’s aboard the ship.” Compl. H 37. In its March 12, 1996 claim, NRAC contended that this allegedly defective information caused NRAC to incur over $200,000 in additional costs for remediating PCBs on the vessel. In its complaint, NRAC alleges that considering additional indirect costs arising from the same claim item the costs of PCB remediation have grown to $500,000. NRAC also contends that the government, through DRMS and the U.S. Navy, had extensive information regarding the presence of asbestos materials aboard the Coral Sea but failed to disclose this information to NRAC. NRAC contends that the alleged failure to disclose this asbestos contamination was a constructive change and caused NRAC to incur over $500,000 in additional costs of performance to remediate asbestos beyond those costs described in the invitation for bids or marked aboard the vessel. NRAC contends that the amount of this claim had increased to $1,000,000 at the time it filed the complaint due to additional asbestos removal.

NRAC asserts it sustained further losses from DRMS’s failure to permit NRAC to export the hull of the Coral Sea to the Far East based on Northern Marine, L.L.C.’s (Northern Marine) inability to obtain financing for another contract. Northern Marine is managed and controlled by the same management that owns and controls NRAC.

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Bluebook (online)
52 Fed. Cl. 490, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 120, 2002 WL 992746, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nr-acquisition-corp-v-united-states-uscfc-2002.