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Friday, February 12, 2010
Courts - "Bursting Pipes Lead to a Legal Battle "
A long story today in the NY Times, reported by Mary Williams Walsh, includes:
State and local governments across the country may have to replace their water systems because of defective pipes, according to a whistle-blower lawsuit unsealed this week.Kate Moser of The Recorder also has a story today, headed "Qui Tam Suit Over PVC Pipe Goes Public."The whistle-blower, John Hendrix, accuses his former employer, one of the world’s largest pipe manufacturers, of falsifying test results about the quality of its products. Pipes that should last 50 years are in some cases rupturing in their very first year, according to Mr. Hendrix and some state documents. This can lead to explosions, leaks, fires and other dangers.
Officials of the company, JM Eagle, dispute the allegations and say that the tests were done correctly.
Mr. Hendrix said he uncovered the problem after he was asked to oversee the certification of a new manufacturing process that put the pipes through a prescribed battery of tests. He concluded that JM Eagle had been selling substandard plastic pipe since 1996, and that it had subsequently manipulated test results.* * *
Some states, cities and water districts have already experienced leaking, cracking and exploding pipes made of PVC, or polyvinyl chloride. Many are now joining Mr. Hendrix’s lawsuit, filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 12, 2010 01:59 PM
Posted to Courts in general