HDR Engineering of Omaha received
a not guilty verdict from a federal court jury in U. S. District Judge James
Whittemore’ courtroom April 10, 2012, exonerating it from Tampa Bay Water’s
claim that HDR design errors in the 15.5 billion gallon Bill Young Resorvoir at
Lithnia, Florida caused cracks in the reservoir’s six year old retaining
basin. The verdict follows the water
authority’s rejection of a $30 million settlement offer from HRD last October,
after the authority accepted settlements of $6 million from its construction
manager and $750,000.00 from the general contractor. Tampa Bay Water’s trial
lawyers had asked the jury to award it $73.2 million from HDR for repairing the
cracks. The utility contended that excess pore pressure in the embankment
caused the cracks, while HDR defended that a contractor’s improper soil
placement was the cause.
The jury deliberations leading up
to the verdict lasted a mere four hours after the case was submitted to them
following a month long trial. The water utility said its lawyers told it to
expect up to $97 million from the trial, towards the $162 million cost of
renovating and expanding the six year old facility.
