Chinese-made drywall is causing off-gassing and corrosion problems in Florida, prompting at least two lawsuits. Powerplant fly ash used in manufacturing the product may be a possible culprit. Photo: AP/Wideworld One major builder has fi led suit over problems apparently caused by Chinese-made drywall. Related Links: Lennar Lawsuit Class Action Complaint The Florida Dept. of Health has received 68 odor complaints from homeowners. Lennar Corp., Miami, on Jan. 30 filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, against several manufacturers, eight suppliers and 12 installers. The suit alleges the manufacturers made deficient and defective

The Senate has moved quickly, in most cases, to approve President Barack Obama’s nominees to Cabinet posts, including his choices to lead departments that oversee major construction programs, such as transportation and energy. Industry officials now will focus on whom Obama will pick for sub-Cabinet positions, including deputy and assistant secretaries. Photo: AP/Wideworld Confirmation has come quickly for most nominees. Among a group of nominees confirmed on Jan. 22 was former Illinois congressman Ray LaHood, a Republican, as transportation secretary. LaHood was approved the day after his confirmation hearing before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. During the hearing, LaHood

A two-year legal battle that Hyundai Construction Equipment USA Inc. lodged against an independent Michigan dealer has resulted in a legal precedent that could deter machinery importers from bypassing original-equipment manufacturers and their networks of authorized dealers to make an extra profit from selling “gray-market” goods. Photos Courtesy of Hyundai Foreign decals (above) and scratched-out serial plates (below) made the imported machines illegal for sale by an unauthorized dealer. In a memorandum dated Oct. 21 and signed early this year, U.S. District Court Judge Harry D. Leinenweber orders Macomb Township, Mich.-based Chris Johnson to relinquish about $1 million in profits

Steven Chu, Nobel laureate and head of the Lawrence Berkeley national laboratory, appears headed for fast Senate approval as energy secretary. At a Jan. 13 hearing, Senate energy committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said he backs Chu. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) expects Chu to be approved. Chu said he’s committed to defense-site cleanup and that it “makes good sense” to have cleanup aid in a stimulus bill.

The congressionally authorized Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction on Jan. 13 released a final audit of southern Iraqi oil-sector reconstruction by Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc. for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. KBR was working under a competitive, $1.2-billion-maximum contract awarded in January 2004. Due to modifications, often for government convenience, the end cost was $722.3 million. The audit says a lack of security, as well as poor pre-war maintenance by the Iraqis, drove up task-order costs. It says although the Iraqi government now has better facilities than before the war, “it is likely” the value of

Senators from both parties showed enthusiastic support for Rep. Hilda Solis, President-elect Obama’s choice to be Labor Secretary, at the California Democrat’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Jan. 9. Although committee Republicans said they might disagree with Solis on key issues, such as the scope of the Davis-Bacon Act, several signaled probable support her confirmation. Solis says creating ‘green’ jobs leads her agenda. “I intend to vote for you,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The panel’s ranking GOP member, Michael Enzi (Wyo.), said that even though some Republicans and Solis might have “very

The Supreme Court is delving into a case that could decide whether hard-rock mine operators legally may pump metal waste directly into lakes and rivers rather than man-made settlement ponds. In 2007 an appellate court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers lacked authority under the Clean Water Act to issue a permit to an Alaska company to pump 4.5 million tons of rock waste into a lake near Juneau. During oral arguments on Jan. 12 before the high court, attorneys for environmental group Earthjustice argued the Environmental Protection Agency has tougher requirements governing mining waste than does the Corps.

In the latest chapter in the ongoing tri-state battle over use of the Apalachicola- Chattahoochee-Flint River basin, the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 rejected a petition by Georgia and declined to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia relating to allocation of Lake Lanier. Negotiations between Florida, Georgia and Alabama over the use of the basin date back to the 1970s and have led to tristate litigation and intervention by the Secretary of the Interior. In February 2008, the federal appeals court struck down a 2003 agreement between the U.S. Army Corps

Several business organizations, including the Associated Builders and Contractors and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are challenging the Dept. of Homeland Security’s ‘E-Verify’ system that checks employees’ immigration status. They claim in a Dec. 23 lawsuit that the Bush administration unlawfully expanded the program. A June 9 executive order and subsequent DHS proposal made the formerly voluntary E-Verify program mandatory for all companies holding federal contracts of more than $3,000. DHS later raised the threshold to $100,000, but business groups still do not like the rule. Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the Chamber’s litigation center, says federal law “explicitly prohibits”

With the 111th Congress officially begun and President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration near, construction industry and state officials are hungering for details of the promised economic-stimulus plan. But it’s still uncertain how big the package will be, how much will go for infrastructure and how large the shares will be for highways, transit, water and other types of public works. “The economy is badly damaged. It is very sick,” Obama said on Jan. 5. He wants quick action on a stimulus measure, saying, “I expect to sign a bill to create 3 million jobs for the American people shortly after I