LISBON - An engineering firm hired by Baard Energy is seeking payment for more than $75,000 it says is owed for services rendered in regard to the Ohio River Clean Fuels project outside Wellsville.
CH2M, Inc. of Englewood, Colo., filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati against Ohio River Clean Fuels and Baard Energy, seeking payment of the alleged debt.
Baard Energy is the parent company of Ohio River Clean Fuels, which plans to build a more than $6 billion plant outside Wellsville that would convert coal to synthetic liquid fuel.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants contracted with CH2M in October 2006 to "perform engineering, construction management and other related services in connection with the project," with the work to take the form of "task orders."
"Some task orders were executed by the parties and some were not, however work was performed consistently by CH2M under each task order, Defendants made payments under the task orders, and the work performed under the Task Orders was never rejected," wrote attorney David Elberly.
While some payments have been received, CH2M says it still is owed more than $75,000, and a judgment in that amount is sought, plus interest and attorney fees.
Baard Vice President Steve Dopuch, who was listed in the lawsuit as the company's statutory agent, said they had yet to receive a copy of the lawsuit and were reluctant to comment until then.
The project is two years behind schedule due primarily to lack of private investors, with construction originally expected to begin by mid-2008. Meanwhile, the necessary state and federal regulatory permits received for the project are the subject of pending appeals filed by two environmental activists organizations - the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Sierra Club's Nachy Kanfer said the lawsuit is further evidence the project is in financial trouble.
"From start to finish, this has been a risky project with a risky technology that Wall Street flirted with a few years ago but has now unceremoniously dumped. It's time to move on and pursue energy sources that are actually clean," he said.
In related news, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency issued a modification of the air permit issued several years ago for the project. OEPA spokesman Mike Settles said the modifications were minor involving mostly typographical errors, omissions and "other items to ensure consistency and accuracy throughout the permit."
