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The State of Washington Department of Corrections sues C&R and others for
$6.5 million over faulty installation of a leaking hot water system.
When the State of Washington spent $123 million on the brand new Airway
Heights Corrections Center, they probably expected their sparkling new prison
would hold up for decades before it needed extensive repairs. "We want this to last for thirty years like its supposed to," said
Corrections budget director John Adsit, in the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Instead, just months after it opened, the prison’s multimillion dollar
heating and cooling system failed dramatically. Massive problems developed in
the prison’s 5,000 feet of underground piping that used compressed air to feed
water to buildings. Corrections officials declared an emergency due to numerous
leaks, piping failures, and systems shutdowns. C & R Plumbing was the
mechanical contractor who installed the water lines on the failed system. "Problems can occur with any new project. But the size of this problem
is large. Its very big," said Corrections engineer Bill Phillips in
published accounts. "Basically we have no confidence in the system. We
think it’s a chronic, system-wide problem, not just a few mistakes here and
there." The problems were so severe that mere repairs could not patch up the system.
Instead, the legislature had to appropriate another $5.3 million to replace the
entire system. The Department of Correction sought to recoup its funds by filing
suit. Their suit charged: "(A)t least one of the (underground) utility vaults
"floated" due to the pressure of groundwater, causing damage to
underground utility lines ... there were extensive failures in the chilled
water system ... other problems ... were discovered, including failures of
utility line joints and fittings." Leaks ... continued ... raising
serious concerns about the integrity of the underground utilities ... the
problems were too extensive to allow for needed repairs." An independent engineering study of the failed system concluded that C &
R installed the water lines incorrectly, failed to keep the systems properly
separated, and failed to properly seal pipe joints. The Study stated: C & R Plumbing failed to
construct and install the chilled, heating and compressed air piping
systems in complete accordance with both the design specifications and
drawings "...C & R Plumbing failed to construct and install the chilled,
heating and compressed air piping systems in complete accordance with both the
design specifications and drawings ... bedding materials were deficient, there
were gouges in the piping casings...end seals and field closure seals did not
contain proper shrink wrap closures and water leaked into the piping casing.
Incomplete soldering methods were used on numerous copper pipe fitting joints.
As a result there have been and still are numerous joint failures and leaks. (T)he
mechanical contractor had used ... a low temperature solder ... C & R
claimed that this was submitted and approved ... this has not been
verified."
To settle the suit C & R and others agreed to a mediator who found that C
& R and the others owed the State $2.7 million. In May, 1998, C & R had to sue their own insurance company, Valiant
Insurance, after Valiant denied it had any duty to defend C & R in this
debacle. In that suit, C & R admitted they had to pay over $600,000 to the
state as their part of the Airway Prison settlement. C & R had other problems on the Airway prison job. One of its trucks,
while raising its bed, hit a high voltage line and burst into flames.
And the State of Washington discovered that C & R had been underpaying
its workers on the Airway job. The State initially ordered C & R to pay its
workers another $18,000, but C&R has contested $14,000 of that
determination. The State has also determined that C & R underpaid its
workers on another six jobs.
THE SPOKANE TRANSIT AUTHORITY SUED C & R OVER A SOLVENT LEAK. C & R PAID THE STA OVER $56,000 C&R Plumbing installed an underground piping and secondary system for the Spokane Transit Authority (STA). But the job went bad. The STA discovered that toxic hydrocarbon solvents were spewing from a cracked pipe, and the secondary containment system had failed to capture a substantial quantity of the hazardous liquids. The noxious solvents escaped into the ground, and the State Department of Ecology forced the STA to conduct immediate remediation effort to protect the environment, at a cost to the STA of $440,806. The STA sued C & R and others charging: "C & R perform(ed) the work in a faulty and unworkmanlike manner; installing the work in substantial deviation for the contract documents, and failing to discover and report...errors and omissions in the contract documents." To settle the case C & R and others paid $225,500 to the STA. C & R paid one of the largest shares of this settlement: $56,500. THE STATE OF IDAHO PLUMBING INSPECTOR FOUND EIGHTEEN VIOLATIONS BY C & R ON THE BOISE WATER TREATMENT JOB On June 25, 1998, Bob Rawlings, Plumbing Specialist for the Idaho Division of Building Safety, Plumbing Bureau, wrote a letter to Daniel Rude of C & R Plumbing. The letter listed eighteen violations that an inspection of C & R’s work revealed, at the Joplin Street Waste Water treatment plant in Boise. Among the violations are those shown in the box at left. The Inspection letter concluded that these were only the violations that were uncovered by a visual inspection, and there may be other violations, and corrections of work needed.
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