The high price of victory

May 7, 2006 -- CH2M Hill will have to eat the $824,000 legal bill it ran up while successfully defending itself against allegations that its negligence led to a 1996 explosion at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's Jones Island Treatment Plant, tunnel, a federal judge has ruled.

Because there was no provision for the attorney payments in the contract between CH2M Hill and MMSD, each side has to bear its own legal costs, U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon said.

Herndon also slashed CH2M Hilll’s request for fees and costs. Ch2M Hill requested $43,650, but Herndon awarded just $23,577.

CH2M Hill can likely afford the fees -- the corporate behomoth is pulling down millions as a major contractor on both the Marquette Interchange and I-94 North-South freeway reconstruction projects.

The Jones Island explosion occurred in the MMSD Dewatering & Drying Facility (“D&D Facility”), a facility that processes waste sewage sludge into Milorganite, according to federal court records.

Two insurers, the State of Wisconsin Local Government Property Insurance Fund and The Travelers Indemnity Co. eventually paid the district more than $2.4 million in damages.

The insurers, in turn, sued CH2M Hill, alleging it negligently failed to design the D&D Facility and negligently failed to implement safeguards and remedial measures that were suggested by an outside engineering firm following a flash fire and explosion that occurred prior to the explosion.

A jury, however, said CH2M Hill was not negligent.

CH2M Hill in 1999 settled a separate lawsuit filed by the injured worker, Michael Simmons, for $550,000, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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CH2M Hill seeks big attorney fee pay day

Also on this page: Jury clears CH2M Hill in explosion case. CH2M Hill can't suppress expert testimony.

Jan. 9, 2006 -- CH2M Hill is seeking $824,000 in legal fees after successfully defending itself in a lawsuit alleging it was negligent in a 1996 explosion at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's Jones Island Treatment Plant, federal court records show.

The firm is seeking the payment because the contract between MMSD and the firm called for the loser in any lawsuit to pay fees and costs, CH2M Hill lawyer Philip C. Reid said in a court filing.

"Plaintiffs cannot accept the benefits of the contractual arrangement without also accepting their repsonsibilites under the contract, including the responsibility to pay attorney fees' to the prevailing party" Reid wrote.

While the suit actually was brought by MMSD insurers, CH2M Hill said it still was entitled to the fees.

"Just as MMSD would be obligated to pay CH2M Hill its attorney fees had MMSD been the plaintiff, the insurers of MMSD are likewise liable," Reid said.

The Jones Island explosion occurred in the MMSD Dewatering & Drying Facility (“D&D Facility”), a facility that processes waste sewage sludge into Milorganite, according to federal court records.

Two insurers, the State of Wisconsin Local Government Property Insurance Fund and The Travelers Indemnity Co. eventually paid the district more than $2.4 million in damages.

The insurers, in turn, sued CH2M Hill, alleging it negligently failed to design the D&D Facility and negligently failed to implement safeguards and remedial measures that were suggested by an outside engineering firm following a flash fire and explosion that occurred prior to the explosion.

A jury, however, said CH2M Hill was not negligent.

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Jury clears CH2M Hill in MMSD case
Sewerage District faulted in blast

Dec. 27, 2005 -- A federal court jury said last week that CH2M Hill was not to blame for a large explosion at the Jones Island sewage treatment plant that caused more than $2 million in damage and seriously injured a worker at the plant.

Instead, the jury said, negligence by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District contribued to the 1996 blast. MMSD was not a party in the case.

The Jones Island explosion occurred in the MMSD Dewatering & Drying Facility (“D&D Facility”), a facility that processes waste sewage sludge into Milorganite, according to federal court records.

Two insurers, the State of Wisconsin Local Government Property Insurance Fund and The Travelers Indemnity Co. eventually paid the district more than $2.4 million in damages.

The insurers, in turn, sued CH2M Hill, alleging it negligently failed to design the D&D Facility and negligently failed to implement safeguards and remedial measures that were suggested by an outside engineering firm following a flash fire and explosion that occurred prior to the explosion.

The jury, though, said CH2M Hill was not to blame, but that MMSD negligence contributed to the explosing.

The jury said the insurers should be awarded $1.53 milllion in damages.

CH2M Hill said in a court filing it is allowable under Wisconsin law to include on a verdict form questions relating to negligence of non-parties as the evidence warrants submission of those questions to the jury.

CH2M Hill in 1999 settled a separate lawsuit filed by the injured worker, Michael Simmons, for $550,000, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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CH2M Hill can't suppress expert testimony in explosion case
Firm accused of negligence

March 7, 2005 -- CH2M Hill failed in a bid to suppress testimony of an expert who is expected to say the firm's negligence led to a large explosion at the Jones Island sewage treatment plant that caused more than $2 million in damage and seriously injured a worker at the plant.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller said he may not allow the expert, Andrew Dickens, to testify about all of his opinions regarding the Feb. 20, 1996 explosion, but CH2M Hill "provides no basis to exclude all of
Dickens’ testimony."

CH2M Hill is a favorite contractor of the State Department of Transportation. It was paid $56.5 million by the agency from 2001 through 2003, more than any other single contractor. Together, CH2M Hill and HNTB form Milwaukee Transportation Partners, the design team for the Marquette Interchange project.

The Jones Island explosion occurred in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's Dewatering & Drying Facility (“D&D Facility”), a facility that processes waste sewage sludge into Milorganite, according to federal court records.

Two insurance companies, the State of Wisconsin Local Government Property Insurance Fund and The Travelers Indemnity Co. eventually paid the district more than $2.4 million in damages.

The insurers are now suing CH2M Hill, alleging it negligently failed to design the D&D Facility and negligently failed to implement safeguards and remedial measures that were suggested by an outside engineering firm following a flash fire and explosion that occurred prior to the explosion.

Dickens said in an expert's report that when CH2M Hill designed the D&D plant, "it was well known that production of Milorganite could give
rise to fires and explosions," Stadtmueller wrote.