Facts

The 500-acre U.S. Navy Shipyard in Hunters Point, a key location in San Francisco, serviced and repaired hundreds of vessels and became a launching and return point for U.S. nuclear tests in the U.S.'s battle in the Pacific during World War II. At that time, radioluminescent materials were used in decontamination, experimentation, and ship repair, plus used in radiological studies conducted by the Navy. In 1974, the Navy shut down Hunters Point Shipyard and it was leased to a ship repair company. Then in the 1980s, the Navy began assessing the area's contamination and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated it a Superfund site in 1989. In 1997, the city of San Francisco, adopted a redevelopment plan to transform the area into a mixed-use residential, commercial and light industrial community. A year later, official large-scale cleanup of the area began. In 1999, Lennar, a home construction corporation was selected as the master developer of the redevelopment plan and in the early 2000s, Tetra Tech EC was hired to clean up the radiation. In July 2018, then current and former homeowners who purchased homes in the redevelopment site filed suit against Tetra Tech, Lennar, and others. Tetra Tech thereafter filed suit against the EPA and its administrator, along with the Department of the Navy and its Secretary.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff Tetra Tech asked for a declaration that the Final Parcel G Work Plan, prepared and approved by defendants, was unlawful, filing suit against defendants for violating the Administrative Procedure Act in its preparation of the Final Parcel G Work Plan. Plaintiffs contended that the Work Plan requires an unnecessarily costly rework of Parcel G, and as the United States is requiring plaintiff to pay for the rework, plaintiff would suffer direct and imminent economic injury.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: In 2012, the Navy discovered discrepancies in the soil sample data Tetra Tech provided. Tetra Tech's former workers revealed that Tetra Tech had falsified soil sampling data. Tetra Tech then assured the Navy that the issue was resolved. In 2014, though residents moved into the development, in mid-2018, the criminal pleas of two Tetra Tech managers were unsealed, revealing publicly for the first time Tetra Tech's falsification and manipulation of testing and cleanup data. Those two managers were sentenced to federal prison. Consequently, the United States alleged False Claims Act and breach of contract violations against Tetra Tech, and the damages included the cost and coordinated effectuation of re-testing. Here, plaintiff Tetra Tch sought a remedy for economic injuries that were unknown and therefore it lacked standing. Essentially, defendants asserted that plaintiff's arguments were based on allegations of an injury that was conclusory and lacked plausibility.

Result

The court granted defendants' motion to dismiss reasoning that plaintiff lacked standing.

Other Information

This case was one of many involving this project, including one cited in this case: *U.S. ex. Rel. Jahr et al. v. Tetra Tech EC, Inc. et al*.