What: Medic and Wellness Workshop When: Sunday May 25th at 2pm Where: Evansville, IN (convergence space) Check back on the “Medic Information” page for more information on specifics in the coming days. If you have any questions, or can’t make it but have medic supplies, and/or want to facilitate another workshop please let us know at i69medic@yahoo.com.
There is now a rideboard for folks to coordinate rides and supplies to Southern Indiana. It can be accessed through the Forum page.
Check out http://www.bloomingtonalternative.com/articles/2008/04/20/9248
for more pictures and an account of the parade.
These two banners were spotted on the Lloyd Expressway, a 6- to 8-lane freeway in Evansville, on Wednesday. Though no one is sure how long they had been up, friends tell us they were up all day on Wednesday. The first one reads “I-69 benefits CEOs, not you” and was located on the west side. The second one reads “70% of Hoosiers oppose I-69″ and was located on the east side. That statistic in the second banner refers to a study done by the Indiana Department of Transportation and is actually 75% of Hoosiers.
We lost access to the original email for the housing working group (i69housing@yahoo.com - you will not receive a reply), through various faults of our own. The NEW housing email is newi69housing@yahoo.com. You WILL receive a reply from newi69housing@yahoo.com.
Gohmann A&C, the company awarded the contract for clearing, and the contract for designing and building the first 1.77 miles of I-69, defrauded taxpayers by swapping core asphalt samples to meet codes over the course of 9 years.
For More Info See:
http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/12/10/daily7.html
http://dcnonl.com/article/id25783
The following article can be viewed in its original form at http://enr.construction.com/news/transportation/archives/071217.asp
Core-Swap Claim Costs Contractor $8 M to Settle
12/17/2007
By John Adams
Thanks to a whistleblower, an Indiana contractor that fraudulently fattened up tests on asphalt content of its roadwork to receive higher compensation is now paying up.
Gohmann Asphalt and Construction Co., Clarksville, Ind., this month paid $6.7 million to the federal government, $1.1 million to Kentucky and $362,165 to Indiana. Gohmann, which didn’t admit wrongdoing, was nabbed for manipulating asphalt mixture inspections during some $60 million in work on Interstate 64 near Louisville between 1997 and 2006. “I don’t remember anything like this happening around here in the past 15 years,” says David Huber, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, which investigated the case.
The agencies say Gohmann engaged in “core-swapping,” or manipulating test samples so it could receive maximum payment for surpassing a prenegotiated level of asphalt pave density in its work. Gohmann had to return a $5.3 million bonus paid by Kentucky and the feds in 2001 for early completion of a resurfacing project on I-64. President Richard L. Cripe said in a statement that the firm’s “efforts and ethical practices” would allow it to achieve a practical resolution to the claims against it.
The federal settlement includes a $1.1 million payment to whistleblower Paul Roederer, former asphalt crew supervisor for Gohmann until 2002. He now owns his own construction firm. In 2003, Roederer filed a Qui Tam complaint�a provision under the False Claims Act that allows a citizen to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. “It was a tremendous risk for him,” says C. Dean Furman, Reoderer’s lawyer. “He’s saved the taxpayers millions of dollars.” The suit didn’t render his client immune from possible prosecution for fraudulent acts at Gohmann, he adds.
Gohmann’s work was mostly funded by the Federal Highway Administration, but supervised by the states of Indiana and Kentucky, which analyzed samples of roadwork to test for asphalt pave mixtures. The firm was paid in part based on a formula that took into account the density of asphalt applied to the road-40 percent of its pay for Kentucky projects and 35 percent for Indiana projects. If Gohmann failed to meet an asphalt pave mixture threshold during an inspection of a portion of work, its pay would be reduced for that portion.
To make sure that didn’t happen, court documents say Gohmann workers used density gauges manufactured by Troxler Electronic Laboratories to take density readings prior to the extraction of asphalt “cores” for testing. As such, the firm’s employees knew which sections of roadwork contained “failing” asphalt and which didn’t. So when the state examiners weren’t around, Gohmann workers would take additional “good” samples and swap them for samples the employees knew would fail inspection.
Mark Brown, a spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, says testing procedures will be shored up in the future in an attempt to prevent this kind of fraud from happening again.
“We’re going to heighten the security of test samples, and we’ll also be testing companion samples off site to make sure that the samples we are taking and the ones we are testing are the same,” he says.
The U.S. and Indiana say Gohmann engaged in swapping in between 10% and 40% of the inspections over the course of 132 different contracts during the nine-year period. “This kind of fraud makes the job of maintaining infrastructure even more difficult than it already is,” says Doug Hexoc, a spokesman for the FHWA. “There are more motorists on the road than ever before. Our highways are taking a beating, and they need to be built correctly.”
The I-69 Listening Project has set up a legal hotline (812-650-4414) for land owners that will be affected by the construction of I-69 in Southern Indiana. Land owners faced with evictions or eminent domain can contact the number in order to receive free legal aid and be put in touch with lawyers committed to fighting the road. While this is only one facet of the struggle to stop I-69, we feel it’s vital that land owners receive at least basic legal support and the largest compensation possible for their land, should they be forced to sell.
INDOT has recently stepped up surveying and the police presence in Section 1 of I-69, hoping to intimidate land owners into selling off their property without a fight. If you have experienced harassment or trespassing by surveyors, please do not hesitate to call this hotline.
You can now send us donations through Pay Pal, using a major credit card, debit card sponsored by a major credit card company, or your own Pay Pal account. We are currently seeking donations for a convergence space - we’re borrowing $3000 and need to pay the persyn back by the end of May. We are also seeking donations for our legal fund, bills (e.g. internet and phone), and general material needs.
Please hold fundraisers, ask sympathetic professors and activists, or whatever you can do!
If you prefer to send us a check or money order, please mail them to:
The I-69 Listening Project
323 S. Walnut Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47401
A P.O. Box in Evansville will also soon be available, and will be posted here at that time.
Members of Valley Watch were able to go out on Wednesday, March 12 and tape some of the damage that was done to trees in the yards of homes taken by the State. You can view their footage here or on their website.
Trees on homes lining State Highway 68 (approx. 1.77 miles north of Interstate 64) were mostly all cleared today, and demolitions could possibly start within the next week. INDOT claims that homes won’t be “torn down” until at least April, but based on their past lies and obfuscations, who knows if that’s true or not. Below is a quote from the Evansville FOX 7 media report that may be interesting to folks:
After decades of waiting, crews are finally breaking ground on the Interstate 69 extension. Some of the first bulldozers began knocking down trees Tuesday afternoon, making room for the interstate. According to an INDOT spokesperson, homes won’t be torn down until at least April. The project will demolish more than 400 Hoosier homes. Although work has begun, some of those residents losing their homes are still fighting back. INDOT’s spokesperson says environmental studies have been conducted for more than a decade, making this the most studied corridor in state history.
The following link is to the complete video of the story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZ99VttE8s
The clearing is being completed by Gohmann A&C of Clarksville, IN. More info on this company is available in the Those Responsible section.
Information on the bids are available here (third contract down):
http://www.in.gov/dot/div/contracts/letting/feb6/OFFICIAL020608.txt
STAY TUNED: More information will be posted as it becomes available!
We’re glad you are interested in learning more about stopping the extension of Interstate 69 through southwestern Indiana, a highway that is opposed by 75-94% of Indiana citizens yet is being undemocratically built in the summer of 2008.
In Indiana alone, I-69 will destroy thousands of acres of farmland, wetlands, and forest. It will displace 400 families, leave twice as many with an interstate in their yards, and divide many communities in half. According to economists at the University of Illinois, rural jobs created by the interstate will cost $1.56 million each, as opposed to best practices rural development plans, which cost an average of 1,000 to 5,000 dollars per job.
This road has been fought fiercely by the residents of Southwestern Indiana for almost two decades, and is now being pushed through with the State’s disdain of democratic processes and independent journalism. Now, they’ve bought the first two miles north of Interstate 64 and plan on constructing two miles of I-69 in the spring of 2008. But we will never let them build this road.
Roadblock Earth First! has worked with a broad coalition of grassroots groups to stop the construction of Interstate 69. Please email us at roadblockef @ yahoo.com if you are interested in getting involved or supporting our efforts.
To get into contact with the point persyns for our logistical working groups, please email:
