While looking for something else online, I found this FOIA for the NPS from a member of the Rimmasch family: https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/actio ... pe=Request

"NPSG: Requesting all contracts completed and executed whether in full or in part relating to Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton Pennsylvania. This request includes all solicitations, contract awards and final contract reviews and completion reports at Steamtown National Historical Site between 1992-2021, including but not limited to contracts issued by the Gettysburg contracting office, the Denver Service Center, or the Washington Office (WASO) contracting offices. (FOIA.gov #298266)"

Interesting that this particular FOIA search was requested on 12/12/2021...

Yep, Wesley Rimmasch is John's son.

To me this is an unusual request as usually such requests are laser focused, in part to avoid a big expense and to ensure a quick response. A 30 year spread as asked for here can result in a huge, and potentially expensive, mountain of digital information, although going back that far some of this will be in the form of paper that has to be scanned. If it had been me, I would have requested this be provided in the form of a spread sheet sourced via government data base information rather than the actual contract documents. I suspect a pattern is being looked for here, perhaps how many Steamtown related projects come to a successful, ontime completion. If it's like the Army, it will be surprisingly few.

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Who knows. My WAG is that the Rimmasch team is casting a super wide net to try and find anything they might be able to use to help them in both the bankruptcy court and with the indictment involving the coach from the NPS ??

Eventually it will all come out in the wash as it always does.

Happy New Year, Ross Rowland

One of the many caps I wear in my real job is the attorney who advises the agency I represent on government records request. Of course, the state law is different than FOIA, but a lot of the same general principles apply. A few impressions

I cannot imagine one using their son, instead of their "legal team" to make the request. Just seems odd. Then again, anyone can make a request, so it's not relevant.

The net seems wide, very wide, perhaps too wide. From my experience the Park Service uses contractors for a lot of jobs, anything from emptying vault toilets, to steam locomotive restoration and service work, and everything between. Casting that wide of a net may cause a significant delay in getting responsive materials back in time to be of benefit to one in legal proceedings. It also may result in a mountain of responsive documents that's too large to effectively manage.

The feds can take a very long time to release information under FOIA. The last time I sent a request to a federal agency, the response came about a year later, and that was a pretty laser-precise request.

As to the "why," I do not engage in mind-reading, so I won't speculate. At the end of the day, I wonder, given the nature of the charges, how relevant it is. Either the defendant fraudulently billed NPS or not. It reminds me of the person pulled over for speeding and telling the police officer that other people were speeding on the highway too.

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My guess would be using your son is far more affordable than using a "legal team".

What would be the advantage of filing under the FOIA as opposed to obtaining the desired information through the discovery process? As has been pointed out, the FOIA has an uncertainly long time line and can be denied. In discovery, wouldn't the feds have to provide the requested information prior to trial?

If your guess is correct, my guess is that somebody needs to learn the difference between value and cost.

The discovery process is more limited, and in a criminal case, is usually limited to the evidence that is pertinent. In a civil case, you have some more leeway, but discovery isn't an open-ended fishing expedition. At the end of the day, discovery has to be "relevant" to the issues at hand in the case, whether it is civil or criminal. FOIA is sometimes good if you are trying to get items that you cannot get in discovery, and sometimes it is used to "check" if the opposing party is actually producing everything.

That being said, the criminal trial is currently scheduled for February, and I doubt there will be a response to such a broad FOIA request by then.

Wasatch blamed the failure of a scrap metal company to pay as the basis for the collapse of its reorganization plan.

That metal company just filed the attached in court. Turns out they tried to make payment, but it was refused.

The hole keeps getting deeper.

Ross Rowland

The trustee of the bankruptcy estate objected to the dismissal. Apparently he is owed $4000 for his services and Wasatch's counsel has not made arrangements to pay him.

[quote="MakerofBoiler"][quote="jayrod"]Does it seem odd to anyone other than me that the customer would want to claim or maintain ownership of any scrap steel generated in the rebuilding of cars? There’s seems to be a lot more to this story than can be gleaned from these documents.[/quote]



50 cars times x amount in pounds of steel/aluminum times current scrap rates equals money.[/quote]

.03-.04 cent s a Lb, yep adds up very fast.