8/20/03 - REFERRAL SENT TO DOJ. This case is against the Lockheed Martin Corporation in its capacity as operator of the Paducah Gaseous and Diffusion Plant (PGDP) from 1984-1998 under Section 3008(a) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. ?? 6928(a), as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief for violations of RCRA; EPA's regulations implementing RCRA at 40 C.F.R. Parts 260 through 271; and the authorized hazardous waste management regulations of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The DOJ Civil Frauds Section (DOJ Frauds) has intervened in a Qui Tam action against defendants on certain issues, including the RCRA violations alleged in the referral. The referral requested that the DOJ Civil Environmental Enforcement Section (DOJ Civil) work in tandem with DOJ Frauds, and add RCRA civil counts to the False Claims Act case against Lockheed Martin Corporation and its subsidiary Lockheed Martin Energy Systems (LMES). A brief summary follows:
A. Nature of the Case: The RCRA violations arise from Defendants' illegal storage and disposal of hazardous waste, land disposal restriction violations, numerous failures to make a hazardous waste determination, hazardous waste manifest violations, and several RCRA permit violations.
B. Proposed Defendants: EPA requests that this action be filed against Lockheed Martin Corporation, its subsidiary Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Marti