The 2010 Defense appropriations bill approved by the Senate this week included an odd item: a $5 million earmark for a company that no longer exists. Sponsored by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the earmark provides $5 million for Information Manufacturing Corporation of Rocket Center, W.Va., to digitize files for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

[IMGCAP(1)]But IMC — founded by Robert Hytner and James Cava, two longtime associates of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) — was sold in 2007 to a Fairfax, Va.-based IT firm called National Interest Security Company. Cava and Hytner remain as board members of NISC.

In response to a query from Roll Call, Byrd’s office responded in an e-mail Tuesday: “Information Manufacturing Corporation was acquired by the National Interest Security Company (NISC) in late 2007, and IMC continued to operate as an affiliate of NISC from that time until this summer. In July 2009 — several months after Senate member requests were submitted to the DOD Subcommittee and web site postings were made in May 2009 — IMC was fully incorporated into NISC. Senator Byrd’s office unfortunately was not made aware of this development but was assured today by NISC officials that this work, if awarded by the Navy to NISC, would continue to be performed by essentially the same employees at the same Allegany Ballistics Laboratory facility in Rocket Center, West Virginia.—