Opposing attorneys were summing up their cases on June 15 in the manslaughter trial of three construction managers and a now-defunct subcontractor for the 2007 Manhattan high-rise fire that killed two firefighters. Predictably, they sharply disagreed over who was to blame for those deaths and 34 other injuries. Photo courtesy of Manhattan District Attorney's Office Defense and prosecuting attorneys differed sharply on construction managers' responsibility in New York fire that killed two firefighters and hampered escape of others. Prosecutor Joel J. Seidemann told jurors that fault lies with the defendants, who were tasked with removing asbestos from the former Deutsche
After the prosecution wrapped its case on June 1 after nearly two months of argument in the manslaughter trial of three New York City construction managers for a fatal Manhattan building fire in 2007, defense attorneys insisted a reasonable jury could not blame their clients. Photo by Tom Sawyer The site of a fatal 2007 fire that killed two firefighters, the Deutsche Bank building was finally demolished in January 2011. State Supreme Court Justice Rena K. Uviller conceded the defense raised “very important issues” in its June 2 motion to toss criminal charges against their clients—Jeffrey Melofchik, Mitchel Alvo and
Constructing any major hospital is a challenge, but building a 320-bed state-of-the-art teaching hospital for $16 million in the highlands of Haiti is fraught with difficulties. Yet the aid group Partners in Health (PIH) is doing just that, using funds that come not from the government or the United Nations but from donations collected by the Boston-based group, which has worked for 23 years to boost the capacity of Haiti's public health sector. The materials, services and cash contributions are coming from private companies and organizations, especially from companies in the U.S. construction sector.The hospital, which will have six operating
In opening statements on April 4 and 5 in the New York City trial of three construction managers related to a 2007 fire at a former Ground Zero high-rise that killed two firefighters, the prosecution and defense painted vastly different portraits of the officials charged with criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter. Photo: AP Trial of construction defendants in fatal 2007 New York City high-rise fire could last four months or more. The inferno killed firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia. About 100 others were injured. In proceedings that could last more than four months, on trial are Jeffrey Melofchik, former
The U.S. Energy Dept. has decided to abandon its original plan for the FutureGen 275-MW coal-fired power plant to test advanced carbon-capture and storage technologies. The agency announced Aug. 5 that will instead use its $1 billion in federal stimulus funding to refit and repower an existing plant in western Illinois to capture carbon dioxide. The money will go to members of the FutureGen Alliance, made up of U.S. and overseas utilities, powerproviders and other firm, as well as to Ameren Energy Resources, Babcock & Wilcox and Air Liquide Process & Construction to install new equipment at a 200-MW Ameren