Business Briefs: Mueller to check Nashville pipes

Mueller to check Nashville pipes

A service subsidiary of the Chattanooga-based Mueller Co. has been hired to inspect and maintain more than 76,000 water valves for Metro Water Services in Nashville. Hal Balthrop, assistant director of system services in Nashville, said the city utility hired Mueller Service Co., based in Plant City, Fla., to assess the valves that control water service to more than 177,000 Nashville area residents.

"This project will provide critical data that will help us to conduct ongoing valve maintenance, gain more confidence in our distribution system and more efficiently utilize our limited in-house resources," Balthrop said.

Metro Water spent about $200,000 last year on such valve inspections, and Balthrop expects similar work with Mueller to continue over the next five years.


Vogtle builders facing lawsuit

Georgia Power Co. wants the firms building a new reactor at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Ga., to pay back more than $29 million in disputed construction costs.

The Southern Co. subsidiary filed a lawsuit this week on behalf of itself and the other owners of two nuclear reactors, including Dalton Utilities. The dispute centers on excavation work to dig the foundation of the power plant.

The utility said in the lawsuit that workers needed to dig the foundation 90 feet deeper than initially anticipated, prompting a dispute over who was responsible for paying for the extra costs.

The builders of the plant previously sued the owners seeking to recover another $29 million for the work. Georgia Power and the owners say they should get a $29 million refund.


Judge nixes bonus program

WICHITA, Kan. - A bankruptcy judge nixed on Friday a proposal to give eight top Hawker Beechcraft executives up to $5.3 million in bonuses, ruling the plan merely rewarded them for staying at their jobs.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein ruled that the bonus plan sought by the Kansas plane maker set the bar too low to qualify as anything other than a retention program for insiders.

Staff and Wire Reports

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