LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

August 2008

To read this entire item of approximately 1500 words online now in PDF format: Click here to read this item if you are an existing subscriber to this publication. Click here to purchase the full text of this item to read now (price: $25). To subscribe to this publication and immediately access all its archives including this item, select the relevant publication under 'Catalogue' in the left-hand column PLEASE NOTE: to read PDFs on www.argento.com you must be using Version 5 of Acrobat Reader or Adobe Reader. If you have an earlier version you can download the latest free of charge by clicking here

Los Angeles DWP Files Fraud and False Claims Action against Owens Valley Dust Mitigation Contractor
City of Los Angeles v. CH2M Hill, Inc.

On June 24, 2008, the City of Los Angeles, acting through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (collectively: DWP) filed a lawsuit alleging fraud and false claims against CH2M Hill, Inc. (consultant), a large environmental consulting firm that has for several years provided mitigation services to DWP in the Owens lakebed near Lone Pine, California. The environmental issues in the Owens lakebed do not involve water, which is long gone from that area, but instead involve dust and air quality. As alleged in the complaint filed by DWP, pursuant to an agreement between DWP and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (district), DWP agreed to perform various forms of dust mitigation in the Owens lakebed area. DWP retained the consultant in a wide variety of professional, scientific, technical, construction and program management capacities to both evaluate and comply with its obligations under this agreement. Two services agreements between DWP and the consultant are at issue in the complaint for services totaling in excess of $100 million.