Depositions Coming in US Nitrogen Suit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Key depositions are expected in the near future in a federal lawsuit brought by a Tennessee chemical firm against a Georgia engineering firm which was involved in the construction of a $200 million Greene County industrial complex.
Records in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, GA. show lawyers for Weatherly Inc. will be deposing Randy Fortner of C & C Millwright, a Tennessee firm that served as a main contractor in the construction of U.S. Nitrogen's ammonium nitrate plant in Midway, Tenn.
Weatherly also has issued notice that is seeking the records of C & C Millwright and will be deposing two other individuals, Randy Poteet and Clark Breaux. The roles of the two were not detailed.
The notices are the latest development in a suit filed by US Nitrogen against Weatherly. In the original complaint US Nitrogen charged that multiple errors by Weatherly substantially delayed the opening of the US Nitrogen and also caused US nitrogen to incur some $30 million in added costs.
Fortner was not only the head of C & C Millwright but also a member of the Industrial Development Authority of Greeneville and Greene County, the agency that played a key role in getting US Nitrogen to locate in Midway. Fortner did abstain from voting on matters involving US Nitrogen.
Additionally Fortner's company, J & J Warehousing sold a 3.58 parcel to US Nitrogen for $75,000.
In its original complaint in the Atlanta suit US Nitrogen charged that pillars designed for the plant by Weatherly were too weak and collapsed forcing a major re-build. Still other defects discovered later included faulty design of storage tanks that caused "cracks and other defects.
Records in that suit show that major equipment purchased for the US Nitrogen facility were decades old including a nitric acid plant that was 30-years-old.
Weatherly has denied that it was responsible for problems cited by US Nitrogen and also noted a provision in their contract with US Nitrogen limits damages to $2.2 million.
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