DENVER-
A retired engineer who filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit in 1989 that helped expose fraud at the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant has died, his attorney said.
James Stone, 82, died after a short bout with pneumonia on Wednesday, about two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court said he could not receive any of the damages that the plant’s former operator owed to the government because of his lawsuit.
His attorney, Hartley Alley, said Thursday he has asked Colorado Sens. Wayne Allard, a Republican, and Ken Salazar, a Democrat, to push the government to share the $4.2 million in damages with Stone’s estate despite the ruling.
“He’s really a hero in Colorado,” Alley said.
Stone stood to collect up to $1 million from the lawsuit he filed against Rockwell International, now part of aerospace giant Boeing Co., over problems with environmental cleanup at the now-closed plant northwest of Denver.
A court ordered Rockwell to pay the government nearly $4.2 million for false claims it submitted.
But in a 6-2 ruling March 27, the court said Stone was not entitled to recover any money because he lacked “direct and independent knowledge of the information upon which his allegations were based.”
The company must pay the penalty anyway.
Stone worked at Rocky Flats from 1980 to 1986. Alley said he was the first Rocky Flats insider to come forward with allegations of environmental crimes. An investigation by the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency led to a criminal case against Rockwell, which pleaded guilty to 10 environmental crimes and paid $18.5 million in fines. Stone’s whistle-blower case was separate from the criminal case.
Stone, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, is survived by his wife, Virginia, sons Bob, of Lakewood, and Randy, of Wheat Ridge, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his eldest son, James Stone Jr.
