Source: https://www.governmentconstructionlaw.com/, February 19, 2023 By: Joseph Darr When an owner provides design plans and specifications for building a project, there is an implied warranty that if the contractor follows those plans and specifications, a satisfactory result will be produced. This principle is called the Spearin doctrine, which comes from the United States Supreme Court case United States v. […]

Source: https://www.insurancejournal.com/, February 23, 2023 A Waltham-based construction contractor, Devens-based plumbing contractor, and Woburn-based demolition company will pay up to $325,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations of illegal asbestos work during a renovation project at Fitchburg State University (FSU) in the spring and summer of 2018, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said that […]

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/, February 21, 2023 By: Michael F. Gorman, Professor of Business Analytics and Operations Management, University of Dayton Less than two weeks after train cars filled with hazardous chemicals derailed in Ohio and caught fire, a truck carrying nitric acid crashed on a major highway outside Tucson, Arizona, killing the driver and releasing toxic chemicals into […]

Source: https://www.claimsjournal.com/, February 21, 2023 By: John Flesher Police Chief Jason Wright feared the worst as he rushed to the scene of a freight train derailment in Michigan’s Van Buren Township, mindful of a fiery rail crash this month in Ohio that led to evacuations and a toxic chemical release. Instead, the situation a half-hour’s […]

Source: https://apnews.com/, February 16, 2023 By: Jeff Amy Georgia Power Co. has again delayed the projected startup for two new units at its Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta, saying its share of the costs will rise by an additional $200 million. Southern Co., the utility’s Atlanta-based parent, announced the delays and higher costs on […]

Source: https://www.ercweb.com/, January 23, 2023 The EPA recently announced it is seeking public comment on its proposal to address environmental justice, climate change, and PFAS contamination in its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (NECIs).  Every four years, EPA selects national initiatives to focus resources on serious and widespread environmental problems where federal enforcement can make […]

Source: https://www.lexology.com/, February 14, 2023 By: Malcolm C. Weiss, Scott P. DeVries, Syed S. Ahmad, Yosef Itkin and Javaneh S. Tarter, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP PFAS Regulation Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances (“PFAS”) are a class of substances that have increasingly become the target of federal and state regulation in everything from drinking water, groundwater, site […]

Source: https://www.wkyc.com/, February 11, 2023 By: Chris Beeble The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a “General Notice of Potential Liability” letter to Norfolk Southern on Friday detailing areas where the company may be liable for damages and cleanup related to the East Palestine train derailment site. In the letter, the EPA detailed their investigation into […]

Source: February 13, 2023 By: John Hanna A faulty weld at a bend in an oil pipeline contributed to a spill that dumped nearly 13,000 bathtubs’ worth of crude oil into a northeastern Kansas creek, the pipeline’s operator said last Thursday, estimating the cost of cleaning it up at $480 million. Canadian-based TC Energy said […]

Source: https://www.wate.com/, February 13, 2023 By: Gregory Raucoules The Environmental Protection Agency will soon begin environmental cleanup efforts at a 13-acre site in Knoxville contaminated by hazardous waste. The Smokey Mountain Smelters site at 1508 Maryville Pike is considered a “Superfund” site by the EPA, or an area contaminated by hazardous waste from previous industrial operations. It is located […]

Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/, February 10, 2023 By: Sarah Atkinson, Evan Reis The devastating earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria last Monday have taken the lives of over 23,000 people — a number that is likely to grow as rescue teams are still finding victims amidst the rubble of over 3,500 collapsed buildings. Such a staggering death toll […]

The construction and design industry concluded 2022 with an increase of 8% in spending compared to the end of  2021. Residential, commercial, manufacturing and water supply infrastructure projects continued to see positive performance. As we head into 2023, overall increased spending is projected in all three segments of the construction and design  industries. However, target […]