Subcontractor on Fox River Project Files for Arbitration

From: "Rebecca Leighton Katers" <cwac@mail.execpc.com>
Friday, July 10, 2000

A company hired to dredge PCB-contaminated  sediments from the Fox 
River claims their employers set them up to fail, AND they've issued 
a stinging news release about it  (The full unedited text of  their 
news release is below.) 

Clean Water Action Council has claimed for 2 years this project was 
designed to fail, now this private remediation company is providing 
details.   Last Fall, when the project was left uncompleted because 
dredging  started too late before freezing, ran into "technical 
difficulties," and "ran out of money" --- we were suspicious.   The 
project skimmed the surface sediments off and exposed a 3 acre site 
of hazardous waste levels of PCBs on the bottom of the river, and 
then left them exposed to river currents all winter, spring and 
summer.   Fort James Corporation has signed a consent decree to go 
back and finish the project starting in September (too late again?)

We knew the paper companies had a strong incentive to show disastrous
results at this demonstration, so they could argue that "it's safer to
just leave the PCBs where they are."   A bad demonstration might save
the polluters hundreds of millions of cleanup dollars when the whole
river cleanup plan is released for comment this winter.   At the same
time, the polluters are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into
a media and lobbying campaign to convince the public and legislators
that dredging is dangerous and unnecessary --- that "natural recovery"
or cheap capping are the best choices for the river.

Note also that the polluters appear to be inflating the cost figures
for the project  (--- high costs, and job blackmail, are additional 
arguments the paper companies are using to scare the public away from 
a strong cleanup plan.)   Last winter they claimed the project ran 
out of money and exceeded the $9 million budget arranged with the 
state.   But amazingly, the state (which was a "partner" in this 
project) apparently has seen no documentation of those costs, and 
hasn't required financial records.   Even if the costs are real, the 
problems cited below would have increased costs unnecessarily, 
giving a false picture of competent dredging costs.. 

We're calling for an independent financial and technical audit of 
the project.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --- July 6, 2000
CONTACT --- J. Wayne Cropp, Four Seasons Environmental, (423)396-4100

SUBCONTRACTOR ON FOX RIVER PROJECT FILES FOR ARBITRATION

Owed More Than $3.6 Million by Project's Lead Contractor, Four Seasons
Says Project Was Designed to Fail

GREEN BAY, Wis --- The demonstration project to dredge polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) from the Fox River was designed to fail from its
inception, according to the firm which conducted the lion's share of
the actual dredging, dewatering, and water treatment.

Four Season's Environmental, Inc., made this announcement as the
company filed a demand for non-binding arbitration with lead
contractor Montgomery Watson Constructors, Inc., (MWCI) on grounds
that Four Seasons has not been paid in full for services it performed
on the cleanup project.

"After working in good faith to clean this river and meeting
roadblocks at every turn, we can come to no other conclusion than that
this project was set up to fail right from the start," said Phil
Martin, vice-chair of the Four Seasons Board.  "Not only did
Montgomery Watson do a poor job characterizing actual conditions at
the site, which led to them providing us incomplete and inaccurate
information as to site conditions, they were unresponsive when we
notified them to changes in those site conditions and they've refused
to pay us for the work we have done.   When you put those pieces
together, you have to wonder whether they, or their client, really
wanted this project succeed." 

At the heart of the matter is a dispute over site conditions which
differed significantly from those represented to Four Seasons by MWCI
and its parent company, Montgomery Watson Americas, Inc. (MWA).

The scope of the original demonstration project called for the
dredging of 55,000 in-situ cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment
from the Fox River, resulting in 19,300 dry tons of filtercake for
disposal.

Based on comprehensive studies of the Fox River contamination prior to
bidding out the project, MWA and MWCI misrepresented to Four Seasons
that the PCB-contaminated sediments would contain 34 percent dry
weight solids.   In fact, Four Seasons discovered that the solids
concentration was actually closer to 50 percent.   The contract
between MWCI and Four Seasons provides that an increase in the
contract price would be allowed in the case of differing site
conditions.   Four Seasons gave written notice of the differing
conditions on Nov. 10, and though MWCI instructed Four Seasons to
continue working on the project it has yet to acknowledge that
differing site conditions exist.

"The erroneous information we were provided at the start of this
project was critical to the outcome of the demonstration project
because, as the percentage of solids increases, the work required to
process 55,000 cubic yards of sediment increases," said Martin.  "Our
project testing, design, equipment, sizing, labor estimate, and
project schedule were based on the inaccurate information provided by
Montgomery Watson.   It's no surprise then that the costs and time
needed to complete the project are greater than anticipated.   We
worked hard to do our part to clean up the Fox River, and we've
demonstrated that dredging and dewatering is an effective method of
addressing sediment contamination.  We've also demonstration that site
conditions are different than anticipated, and we deserve to be paid
for the work we accomplished at the site."

Though the Fox River Group (the seven paper companies held responsible
for the PCB cleanup in the Fox River) claims to have spent nearly $9
million on the demonstration project, including substantial payments
to Montgomery Watson, Four Seasons has received from MWCI just over
$950,000 of the nearly $4.8 million it is owed.   The seven papermills
that comprise the Fox River Group are:  P.H. Glatfelter, Wisconsin
Tissue (Georgia Pacific, now), Riverside Paper Corp., U.S. Paper
Mills, Appleton Papers, NCR Corp., and the Fort James Corp (formerly
Fort Howard Corp. and James River Corp.)

"Just as we question Montgomery Watson's desire to complete this
project successfully, we also question the Fox River Group's
intention's" said Martin.  "Their commitment to seeing this project
through and managing their lead contractor is questionable at best."

Four Seasons performed dredging, dewatering, and water treatment at
the site from August until December 1999, when weather conditions
prevented further work from being conducted.

"We have attempted to resolve this issue with Montgomery Watson for
several months, but our discussions have led nowhere," said Martin. 
"All we ask is to be paid for our work.   The Fox River Group claims
they've spent nearly $9 million on this project, and Montgomery Watson
has received most of that.  We're the ones who have performed the work
in the river, and we've only been paid around $1 million by Montgomery
Watson.  Where has the rest of the money gone?"

Four Seasons Environmental is a division of Four Seasons Technologies,
a technology-driven growth company offering broad-based,
cost-effective solutions in industrial services, emergency response,
geotechnical engineering, and soils, water, and residual management. 
The Chattanooga-based company has more than 440 employees in offices
in 14 U.S. cities, including Chattanooga, Cookeville, Memphis, and
Nashville, Tenn.; Greensboro, Raleigh, and Charlotte, N.C.'
Parkersburg, W.Va.' Columbus, Ohio; Jackson, Miss.; Baton Rouge and
Port Allen, La.; El Dorado, Ark.; and Houston, Texas, and provides
services throughout the continental United States, Canada, Mexico and
Europe.

###
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CWAC Note:   A Four Seasons representative told the Green Bay News 
Chronicle last week that --- "We were threatened to not go to the 
press.  They said we'd never get paid if we did."

Rebecca Leighton Katers
Clean Water Action Council of N.E. Wisconsin
East Port Center
1270 Main Street, Suite 120
Green Bay, WI 54302
Phone:  920-437-7304
Fax:  920-437-7326
E-mail:  CleanWater@cwac.net
Homepage:  www.cwac.net

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