The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 refused to accept a case seeking to stop the federal government from building a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico, letting stand a lower-court ruling authorizing its construction.

The Appellate Division of the New York state court ruled four to zero to uphold the state’s right to use eminent domain to build the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y. Developer Forest City Ratner Cos. (FCRC), New York City, says it plans to break this year, with the intent that the Nets will play basketball in the planned arena, named Barclays Center, in the 2011-12 season. In 2006, the developer was aiming to move have the Nets into the arena by the 2009-2010 NBA season. According to FCRC, this is the 23rd consecutive ruling in favor of the megadevelopment,

In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 4 limited the legal reach of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, known as the Superfund law, in recovering cleanup costs from companies with possible links to pollution at sites. The high court said Shell Oil should not be held liable for contamination at an Arvin, Calif., site where it sold pesticides to a now-bankrupt chemical firm. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said liability under the relevant section of the Superfund law “does not extend beyond the limits of the statute itself.”

Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a new $3.1-billion Strip resort, is suing its lenders for reneging on a critical $800-million construction loan. The 63-story, 3,815-room development is about 70% complete and scheduled to open in October. On April 23, an investment group led by Miami-based developer Jeffrey Soffer filed a $3-billion lawsuit in Clark County District Court against the project’s 11 lenders for refusing to provide prearranged financing. The developer already has invested over $2 billion in the project. A deepening recession and frozen credit markets make new financing difficult. Fontainebleau had hoped to raise $700 million to $900 million through condominium

General contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis and structural engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates have settled a lawsuit with the family of the man who died in his apartment when the boom of a 210-ft tower crane toppled while working on Tower 333 in Bellevue, Wash. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. An LCL action against MKA, part of the suit, remains unresolved. According to MKA Chairman and CEO Jon D. Magnusson, MKA designed the crane base assuming a tie-in to the building frame in the initial configuration, but the crane was erected without a tie-in. The reason for this is the

In the latest twist in a long controversy, an Indiana circuit court jury on April 15 cleared structural engineer Thornton-Tomasetti Inc., New York City, of fraud charges brought by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, related to the troubled renovation and expansion of the city’s central library. Photo: Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Library’s structural engineer was sued by project owner. The library project originally was budgeted at $103 million but was completed two years late, in December 2007, and as much as $50 million over budget. Other project contractors previously settled with the library for a total of $21.5 million, including

Nearly a year before an ill-fated Kodiak tower crane collapsed on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and killed two workers, China-based RTR Bearing Co. sent an e-mail to New York Crane & Equipment Corp., saying, “We don’t have confidence on this welding,” referring to a custom bearing assembly the crane owner had ordered. But New York Crane asked RTR to perform the $21,860 job anyway, according to court papers filed in conjunction with the accident. Photo: Castro & Karten LLP Plaintiffs’ photographs show where swing bearing (top) snapped away from spacer ring (bottom). Even as personal-injury lawyers are now blaming Brooklyn-based

A federal investigation of impeached ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has resulted on April 2 in six indictments for fraud and extortion that include construction executives. Christopher Kelly, a roofing contractor, and William Cellini, president of the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association, were indicted along with Blagojevich, his brother, his chief of staff and a lobbyist. Cellini was similarly indicted last October.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on March 26 announced “final agreements” with two companies related to the July 2006 fatal collapse of the Central Artery I-90 tunnel plenum. Settlements totaling $1.9 million end civil claims resulting from the fatal accident. Section design firm Gannett Fleming Inc., Harrisburg, Pa., agreed to pay $1.53 million into a statewide infrastructure fund, $50,000 to the city of Boston and waived $150,000 in project payments. It also agreed to make clients and staff aware of a Federal Highway Administration technical advisory on use and inspection of adhesive anchors. The state also settled with Sika Corp.,

A 2006 lawsuit that alleged extortion and breach of contract by Alabama Power Co., which almost went to trial last month, has been settled for $38,000. Hand Contractors of Autaugaville had claimed quality-control inspectors from the power company extorted money and goods from the firm between 2003 and 2005 by "forcing plaintiffs to pay kickbacks." Threats of poor performance reports and loss of contract were allegedly used to demand $250,000 in cash and goods, including construction equipment, firearms, trucks and off-road vehicles. Hand Contractors, which had four to five employees during the time in question, had been hired to control