The NH Department of Environmental Services is suing McCord Corp., a subsidiary of aviation manufacturer Textron, over a cost it incurred in remediating the Collins & Aikman Superfund site in Farmington.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 12 in U.S. District Court in Concord, seeks to recover costs related to remediation of volatile organic compounds at the site, a former auto parts factory, and to hold the owner responsible for future remediation efforts.
The site was a location on the Superfund National Priorities List in the 1980s
NHDES is seeking to compel McCord, which operated the site in the 1960s and 1970s, to be held responsible for costs incurred by the state in responding to the hazardous waste releases and threatened releases at the site, including those affecting area groundwater .
Insurance Department reports big jump in referrals, fines
The NH Insurance Department says that in its recently completed 2022 fiscal year it processed 238 citations, a 35 percent increase from 2021. The agency said its enforcement unit issued 40 consent orders, resulting in $370,750 in fines — a nearly tenfold increase. over 2021. The unit’s work resulted in nearly $82,000 in direct restitution to New Hampshire consumers as a result of an overcharged insurance premium.
The agency said that in 2022, the enforcement unit received 20 to 25 referrals each month, with about half of those investigations requiring no further action. This represents a 70 percent increase since 2020.
The department also said its Consumer Services Unit processed 851 complaints, 3,934 requests for assistance and 96 requests for an external health review. That unit recovered about $2.29 million for New Hampshire consumers throughout the year, the department said.
The US Department of Labor is offering online compliance seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders on the requirements governing payment of prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.
Presented by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, the seminars are part of the division’s ongoing work to increase awareness and improve compliance with federal prevailing wage requirements.
The seminars will include video training on many Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act topics that participants can view on demand. In addition to recorded videos, the division will offer live, online question and answer sessions on DBA and SCA compliance from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. EDT.
The Davis-Bacon Act compliance live session is scheduled for September 13th and the Service Contract Act enforcement live session is scheduled for September 14th. While seminar participation is free, registration is required.
Burke named a “Go To” tax attorney
McLane Middleton attorney Steven M. Burke has been named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s 2022 list of Go To Taxation Lawyers. Go To Lawyers showcases leaders in the Massachusetts legal community by practice area. The lawyers featured this year were all nominated by their colleagues and selected by a panel of Lawyers Weekly.
Orr & Reno lawyers among ‘Best Lawyers in America
Thirteen lawyers from the Concord law firm of Orr & Reno was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
Peter F. Burger, Robert S. Carey, William L. Chapman, Jonathan M. Eck, Judith A. Fairclough, Susan S. Geiger, Margaret R. Kerouac, James F. Laboe, James E. Morris, Julie R. Morse, Douglas L. Patch, George W. Roussos and Lisa Snow Wade earned the distinction for a wide range of practice areas. Each attorney has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for several years.
In addition, Geiger was selected as Concord’s “Attorney of the Year” for energy law, Attorney Morse was selected as Concord’s “Attorney of the Year” for commercial organizations and Wade was selected as Concord’s “Attorney of the Year” for health right
Also receiving first-time recognition as “One to Watch” in the practice of family law was attorney Nicole A. Forbes.
Four named to Charitable Foundation board
Sarah Mattson Dustin, executive director of NH Legal Assistance is one of four new members of the NH Charitable Foundation. Mattson Dustin, of Contoocook, also serves on the Merrimack County Savings Bank board and chairs the board of trustees for the Hopkinton Public Schools Foundation. Also named to the Charitable Foundation board were: Evelyn Aissa of Concord, deputy director of the Partnership for the Future of Learning; Kristin Girald of Rye, an institutional investor who most recently worked with Prime Buchholz LLC; and Ritu Ullal, a family doctor in the greater Nashua region who lives in Hollis.
