This post was updated 12/18/24 to reflect that Veolia declined to comment; the article initially stated that an inquiry went unanswered.
By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
ARKADELPHIA, Arkansas — A Tennessee contracting firm filed a notice claiming that Veolia North America owes them more than $14.9 million in unpaid invoices for work on a hazardous waste incineration project at its Gum Springs facility.
Through Fayetteville law firm Hall Estill Attorneys, the Goodlettsville-based Denham-Blythe Co., Inc., submitted a pre-lien notice, naming Veolia and its Elemental Environmental Solutions (EES) subsidiary as potential lawsuit defendants should the hazardous waste company fail to pay what Denham says it’s owed within 20 days of the notice, which was filed Dec. 10, 2024, at the Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office.
According to the notice, EES entered into an agreement with Denham-Blythe for services including design, engineering, construction administration and process equipment procurement services for the Veolia incinerator project.
The facility, which the French-headquartered company touts will be the most advanced, environmentally efficient of its kind in the U.S., has been under construction since Veolia’s October 2022 announcement that it was investing some $600 million in expanding the current operation. The project is said to create numerous job opportunities in Clark County.
ThermalTech Engineering, Inc., is named as Denham’s sub-contractor for the project, supplying labor, equipment, supplies and materials for the project within the last quarter. ThermalTech says Veolia owes them $14,913,409 plus interest and attorneys’ fees which, according to the notice, will continue to accrue until the balance is paid.
Veolia declined to comment on the matter.
The multi-billion-dollar hazardous waste treatment company has made numerous headlines locally in recent months. The Gum Springs plant has put into motion an endeavor to become completely self-sufficient in its energy output, and the company overall says it’s on track to double in size by 2030. Veolia has also filed lawsuits in Clark County — one against an electrical service contractor on the grounds that it broke an NDA, and one against a South Arkansas competitor that flew drones over the Gum Springs facility. Litigation is ongoing in both civil cases. In a sort of David-versus-Goliath scenario, Clark County’s assessor went up against Veolia in a claim that the company was hiding millions of dollars worth of assets — including heavy equipment buried in its landfill.
The recent notice, should litigation come to fruition, calls for the potential plaintiffs’ right to claim and file a lien against the property, equipment, materials and project against the total unpaid balance.