Black & Veatch settles suit with city

The international engineering firm tasked with supervising the removal of sludge from Kinston’s now-defunct Peachtree Wastewater Treatment Plant has settled a lawsuit with the city for half a million dollars.

City Attorney Jim Cauley announced the $500,000 settlement with Black & Veatch Corp. during a City Council meeting this week.

“The recovery of $500,000 in damages from this multi-billion dollar, international engineering company is a very good outcome for the City,” City Attorney Jim Cauley wrote in an email Tuesday. “It was hard fought and we are glad to be able to successfully close out this case.”

The company was accused of negligence regarding fees charged to the city for removing sludge from Peachtree, as well as breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of agency relationship, according to the lawsuit filed in Lenoir County Superior Court in 2009.

Black & Veatch had been hired by the city more than a decade ago to provide engineering services for the design and construction of the expansion of Kinston’s Northside treatment plant, as well as the decommissioning and demolition of Peachtree.

The company also supervised subcontractors removing tons of sludge from Peachtree.

“Black & Veatch confirms it has reached a legal settlement on this matter,” spokesman George Minter wrote in an email.

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com. Follow him on Twitter at DavidFreePress.