Activists Plan to Sue Massachusetts Nuclear Plant Owner

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

Massachusetts activists have announced plans to sue the owners of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station for what they say is the continuous pollution of Cape Cod Bay over the last 16 years.

The three activists, represented by Ecolaw, notified the Environmental Protection Agency last Friday of their intent to sue the plant’s owner, New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. They say the Plymouth plant damaged the local ecology by discharging chemical pollution and water heated far above allowed standards.

The activists say Pilgrim has more than 33,000 violations of the Clean Water Act since 1996 and charge that the company could be liable for $831 million in penalties, at $25,000 per violation.

In a separate letter last Friday, Ecolaw also told the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection it intends to sue the agency for allegedly allowing Entergy to damage the environment.

Pine duBois, one of the three residents who signed the notification to the EPA, said regulators have a duty to enforce anti-pollution laws. “Our ocean is not Entergy’s dump,” she said in a news release. “Cape Cod Bay belongs to all of us.”

The Department of Environmental Protection said Tuesday it had just received the letter.

“We are currently reviewing each allegation contained in it,” the agency said in a statement.

Messages were left for Entergy and the EPA.

Pilgrim was relicensed earlier this year after 6 1/2 years of review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The relicensing means the commission has certified that the plant, built in 1972, can operate safely for another 20 years.

NRC officials have noted its staff devoted approximately 14,600 hours to the review, which was the longest of any renewal application in the agency’s history.

Ecolaw said it notified state and federal agencies of its intent to sue under laws that allow citizens to act if the government fails to enforce the law.

The group told the EPA it’s able to sue Entergy if the agency doesn’t act within 60 days of the notification. And it says under Massachusetts law it can sue the Department of Environmental Protection if the state does not act with 21 days of its Friday notification to that agency.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: lawsuitHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Colorado Hotel Owner Settles Discrimination Suit

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Hampton Inn & Suites franchise in Colorado has agreed to pay $85,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to non-Hispanic employees who alleged they were fired because the owners believed non-Hispanics are lazy.

The franchise in Craig is owned by Rawlins, Wyo.-based Century Shree Corp. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged the company fired at least three Caucasian housekeeping and laundry workers and replaced them with Latino workers, believing Hispanics work harder.

Century Shree’s lawyer Tim Kingston said Tuesday the alleged discrimination was by one “rogue” employee who has been discharged and that the owners deny wrongdoing.

The company has agreed to offer the fired workers reinstatement to their jobs, and the owners, managers and supervisors of the company will undergo training on federal anti-discrimination laws.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: Colorado, damages, discrimination, lawsuit, settlementHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Nebraska Construction Company Owner Sentenced for Wire, Insurance Fraud

June 26, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Fremont, Neb., man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for a wire fraud conviction that cost banks and insurance companies in Nebraska and Iowa millions of dollars.

Thomas Herink was sentenced in Omaha’s U.S. District Court. In addition to prison, Herink was given three years of supervised probation following his release and ordered to repay $5,111,026.91 to his victims.

Herink was president and chief executive officer of Golf Services Group Inc., a construction company, according to U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg, who says Herink falsified financial statements to defraud lenders and insurers.

Herink carried out the scheme in order to participate in large construction contracts throughout the country, according to Gilg. Prosecutors say when Herink defaulted on some of the projects, the banks and insurance companies lost more than $8 million.

United Fire and Casualty Co. (UFCC), based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Employers Mutual Casualty Co. (EMCC), based in Des Moines, Iowa, were insurance companies that provided various insurance products, including surety bonds, to construction contractors, the U.S. attorney’s office said. These bonds, which included bid, performance, and payment bonds, guaranteed that the contractor would fulfill his commitments according to the specifications outlined in the construction contracts. Both UFCC and EMCC provided bid, performance, and payment bonds to Herink and his business entities, according to Gilg’s announcement.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Associated Press

 

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