UPDATE: Longview liens still unresolved Creditors tell judge sides at an impasse BY ALEX LANG, The Dominion Post, December 30, 2013
The companies with hundreds of millions in mechanic’s liens on Longview Power plant told a judge the two sides disagree on how to proceed in resolving the issue. Longview Power LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. In 2007, Longview Power entered into agreement with Siemens Energy Inc., Foster Wheeler North America Corp. and Kvaerner North America Construction Inc. to build the 700-megawatt power plant in Maidsville. According to previous court filings, Siemens and Kvaerner had filed mechanic’s liens against the property totaling roughly $335 million. According to the West Virginia state code, a contractor who “erects, builds, constructs, alters, removes or repairs any building or other structure,” under a contract with the owner can file a lien against the structure if the owner doesn’t pay for the work. This is known as a mechanic’s lien. Longview had asked a judge to reduce the amount of the liens, saying that some didn’t qualify or part is an unsecured debt. In a letter to the judge last week, the contractors noted that on Dec. 23, the two sides met to discuss the issue. It was during that meeting the two groups discovered they “fundamentally disagree” about the appropriate method to proceed regarding a request to eliminate the Kvaerner and Siemens claims. Now, the contractors plan to file their response to the request by Jan. 10. The filing will include the issue that must be decided and how making a decision in the timeframe proposed by Longview is not possible. Longview and a group of creditors have refused to agree to a reply date other than their own proposed January 31st deadline, according to the letter.
Duane Nichols