Engineers and contractors could end up holding the bag if the finances of state and local governments continue to deteriorate, risk experts warn.Government clients can be especially hard to collect from because they are unlikely to place money in escrow accounts. Private-sector protective measures, such as filing a pre-lien against assets, may not apply to public owners. Yet contractors and prime consultants may remain liable for paying subcontractors, consultants and suppliers.That was the grim assessment at the American Council of Engineering Companies' Oct. 19-22 fall conference in Las Vegas, where a panel explored ways of safeguarding against deadbeat government clients.
Prosecutors are pressing ahead with new charges against contractors for workplace-related accidents.James F. Lomma, a crane company owner who was charged last year in connection with a May 2008 crane accident in New York City that killed two workers, is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 19. Paul Schechtman, an attorney representing Lomma's firm, has said there is no basis for criminal charges in the case.Lomma, 64, two other firms and a former employee have pleaded not guilty to charges that include second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault.Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said, “[The indictment] is an important
Related Links: 2010 Inspector General Report on Iraq Reconstruction Three former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project officials and two foreign contractor employees have been charged with 54 counts of bribery, fraud and conspiracy linked to $50.2 million worth of Corps construction contracts in Iraq, the U.S. Justice Dept. says. The new charges, unsealed on July 14, expand the list of defendants and their alleged offenses brought in a criminal complaint last October.Charged in the federal indictment are John A. Salama Markus and Onisem Gomez, two U.S. citizens and former Corps project engineers in Iraq. Also named is Ammar Al-Jobory,
A criminal jury trial in Denver began on May 31 against Xcel Energy Inc., Minneapolis, and its local subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado, over a combined 10 federal safety violations that led to five worker deaths on Oct. 2, 2007. Five painters, ranging in age from 19 to 52, died when they were overcome by carbon monoxide when a fire erupted while they were spraying an epoxy coating sealant inside a 12-ft-dia., 4,000-ft-long water drainage pipe, or penstock, at an Xcel facility. The accident occurred at the 44-year-old, 1.2-MW Cabin Creek hydroelectric plant, located 35 miles west of Denver.
A ready-mix concrete company in Iowa has pleaded guilty to anti-trust charges. According to the May 18 complaint, GCC Alliance Concrete Inc., Orange City, Iowa, conspired with other competitors to fix prices and rig bids between January 2008 and August 2009. Sentencing is pending. The plea bargain comes after GCC’s former sales manager Steven VandeBrake was sentenced in February to serve 48 months in prison and a criminal fine of $829,715.
A superior court judge in Benton County, Wash., has ruled that a whistle-blower lawsuit by an employee at the Hanford nuclear site against contractors Bechtel National and URS Corp. can move forward in May 2012. Walter Tamosaitis claims that, last July, he was removed from his role as technology manager for raising safety issues on the $12.2-billion waste vitrification plant project at the U.S. Energy Dept. site. Bechtel is the contractor. He now is employed by URS, its subcontractor, but in a lesser role, he says. Jack Sheridan, an attorney for Tamosaitis, says the court is set to decide on
The Internal Revenue Service has given design and construction firms aone-year reprieve from a contract-payment withholding requirement thatindustry contends would deal them a financial blow.At issue is a provision of a 2006 statute that requires federal, state andlocal governments to withhold an amount equal to 3% of their payments toanyone providing them with goods or services.The mandate applies to agencies whose total annual spending on goods andservices is $100 million or more.Individual payments of less than $10,000 would be exempt from thewithholding requirement.The mandate originally was to take effect for payments starting Jan. 1,2011. But the 2009 economic stimulus law
In a settlement with the U.S. Justice Dept. and other federal agencies, BP Exploration Alaska Inc. has agreed to pay a $25-million civil penalty for crude-oil spills in 2006, totaling more than 5,000 barrels, from its pipelines on Alaska's North Slope. Under the pact, announced May 3, BP also will put in place an estimated $60-million, pipeline-integrity program to include regular inspections. U.S. investigators found that two 2006 spills, totaling 5,078 barrels stemmed from BP's failure to inspect and maintain the pipeline well enough to prevent corrosion. The firm pleaded guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean
Although it is difficult to determine how the Supreme Court justices might rule in a major environmental case argued on April 19, they asked several questions related to whether the courts or another branch of government should establish the nation's policies on global warming and whether, in a hypothetical common-law public-nuisance case, a federal regulation would supersede a determination by a district judge. At issue in the case, American Electric Power v. Connecticut, is whether states and individuals can sue utilities under federal common law for contributing to global warming and force them to reduce emissions of CO?. Legal observers
A federal jury in New Orleans awarded a $451,000 settlement on March 24th to a former employee of Boh Bros. Construction Co. to settle charges that he was sexually harassed by his superintendent. The verdict, which was announced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission March 29, is one of an increasing number of same-sex harassment lawsuits filed under federal sexual harassment laws. The jury declined to find liability and to award greater damages for retaliation against the worker by Boh Bros. He had claimed that, in reponse to his complaints, he was transferred to another, more distant location from his
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