Posts by Incognito

71

Battle over contamination at Watchtower site in Warwick

by OrphanCrow in

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20151214/news/151219671.

battle over contamination at watchtower site in warwick.

by hema easley .

Incognito

I don't know about NY state but here, a project such as that would be regulated by the Government. Neither the property owner nor the contractor would have authority to decide when the cleanup is good enough or too expensive.

Engineering consultants who specialize in contamination remediation would be required to oversee the project while Gvmt inspectors would need to review the process to ensure the task was completed thoroughly and in adherence to regulated standards, regardless of contamination depth. Unlike years past, you can't just bury toxic contamination and have it leak into the aquifer for centuries. Whatever is contaminating the soil will flow downstream to populations which rely on groundwater for life.

I know, when it comes to money, people will attempt to getaway with anything but this contamination is well known and is documented so the project should be under close scrutinty, especially by the Town of Warwick and the people residing around the area.

The test and monitor wells which were mentioned previously, will remain permanently in-place to allow ongoing periodic monitoring of the spread of contamination at various depths.

While this link pertains mostly to petrochemical contamination in ground water, it may help make things clearer: http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/groundwaterremediation.html

71

Battle over contamination at Watchtower site in Warwick

by OrphanCrow in

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20151214/news/151219671.

battle over contamination at watchtower site in warwick.

by hema easley .

Incognito

They would have to demonstrate to the court how they came up with the cost of remediation, that's not going to be easy if they didn't pay an outside contractor

Perhaps WT will or have regestered a new company: 'Kingdom Clean-up Corp'. Does the court need to know the company is owned by WTBTS?

71

Battle over contamination at Watchtower site in Warwick

by OrphanCrow in

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20151214/news/151219671.

battle over contamination at watchtower site in warwick.

by hema easley .

Incognito

Vidiot said: Almost makes it sound like just another attempted money grab.

I doubt there is any 'Almost' about it.

If either of the colleges had proceeded with construction, they would have needed to hire engineers, bore test and monitoring wells, and hire site cleanup contractors at full going rates.

While WT would need to have of the same test and monitoring wells and specialty knowledge on site decontamination, most if not all of the work would be completed by volunteer labor utilizing excavation and hauling equipment already owned by WT for development of the site. Though the actual cost of cleanup would probably be a fraction of the cost of that charged by an outside contractor, if there is a claim due, I expect WT would then claim a marked-up price as though the work was completed by a hired contractor.

While some may consider that as dishonest, I think it makes good business sense. The WT is the contractor dealing with a contamination issue not caused by itself.

If you personally built the house you live in and later sustain a loss so that part of that house needs to be repaired through insurance, should insurance only reimburse the cost of materials since the labor was free initially? If you plan to complete repairs yourself, should you be paid the full repair value, just as though the repair was hired-out to an outside contractor as it would be under most circumstances?

The issue at hand is, IF WT purchased the property at a lower cost in compensation for the known contamination issues, is there any cause for a claim against any prior owner?

71

Battle over contamination at Watchtower site in Warwick

by OrphanCrow in

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20151214/news/151219671.

battle over contamination at watchtower site in warwick.

by hema easley .

Incognito

Thanks OrphanCrow for the links to the official relavent documents confirming some of our speculations.

Jeff said: 3) they didn't know about the pollution. This means, in essence, they are going to go into court and say "we're idiots and these bad people took advantage of us." This option might be the most entertaining.
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Even if that had been a possibility, why wait 6 years after purchase and after the decontamination work has already been completed and new buildings built, to establish who is responsible for the cleanup?

WT has its own legal department. If the property had been misrepresented prior to WT deciding to purchase, legal action would surely have been initiated long before 2015.

71

Battle over contamination at Watchtower site in Warwick

by OrphanCrow in

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20151214/news/151219671.

battle over contamination at watchtower site in warwick.

by hema easley .

Incognito

I'm not saying anything. I only understand there are 2 similarly contaminated properties which WT purchased for large projects.

It appears with the Warwick property, the 2 prior owners were aware of the contamination and didn't want to deal with remediation. WT then purchased, cleaned it up and have now launched legal action.

I'm not aware of the current status of the UK property.

While speculating on success in legal action may appear to be risky, WT may have taken the view that they have little to loose in making an attempt.

Since they have their own full time legal department, initiating legal action would cost relatively little. Since the cleanup was likely performed by volunteer labor, the largest expense for cleanup was probably for test wells, excavation and hauling to a secure site and then trucking in new materials. Much of the equipment would be their own which would be necessary for land preparation even without the contamination.

Depending on the actual purchase price for the property, WT may be ahead money even if they are not successful in winning any legal action.

71

Battle over contamination at Watchtower site in Warwick

by OrphanCrow in

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20151214/news/151219671.

battle over contamination at watchtower site in warwick.

by hema easley .

Incognito

It is my understanding that there were 2 colleges that had each owned the property with an intention of building a campus. The cost of contamination remediation was too high so the property was again placed on the market and WT then purchased it.

I expect the contamination was well known and documented prior to the WT purchase. They likely bought it cheaply while intending to launch legal action against INCO.

Isn't there another similarly contaminated property in the UK which WT recently purchased?

77

In The Name of Love, Need Your Opinion

by thankyou in

i'm non-jw.. been following this forum.

most of you folks have been through hell, but are still loving souls.

i'm reeeally impressed and glad to be here.. my question is at the end of this.

Incognito

When I met this girl I had 2 very attractive girl friends. Actually much better looking than this girl. But, I've forgotten about them.

Much like mommyfirstandalways, I think your obsession with this girl is due to the challenge in winning her over. If she had easily agreed to dating you, you likely would soon become bored and start looking elsewhere.

11

If they're just going to emulate Jimmy Swaggart and the like (e.g.: JW Broadcasting), why do they need such a massive compound in Warwick?

by Calebs Airplane in

they're obviously getting rid of the rags, drastically reducing printing of books in general, eliminating special pioneers, etc., etc.. ... what could they possibly need a 1.6 million square feet compound for (not including outside space) in the middle of nowhere?.

just to put things into perspective, 1.6 million square feet is equal to the square footage of roughly twelve (12) costco warehouse clubs.

wtf?

Incognito

While CA posted 12 photos of one Costco store, is anyone able to post photos of the actual Warwick buildings being constructed?

49

Forgiving Loans the Watchtower Way

by cofty in

bank - thank you for maintaining your loan repayments for the past 3 years.

to show our appreciation we are forgiving the balance of your loan.

borrower - yeah!.

Incognito

While it is true that the org could tell them that they needed to sell or not, they local body had a lot of input as to what they wanted to do.

While true in theory, most body's would do whatever the org told them to do, without question.

One congregation I attended, although the RBC dictated that a new KH was to be built, many in the cong were openly against building a new one when the existing building wasn't overly old and could be updated at far less cost. This was a cong which frequently had difficulty paying the monthly utility expenses, never mind a large WT mortgage.

While there was a vote with a small majority favouring renovating the existing, the elders wouldn't pay heed but instead stated that as the RBC said a new one was to be built, that was how the matter was to proceed. Virtually all of those elders moved away to other areas soon after construction so they didn't contribute for long financially, if at all.

96

Special Pioneer Couple Living at a Kingdom Hall In Miami FL, get the dreaded Letter

by James Jack in

just got a phone call from an older sister saying that a couple that got re-assigned from bethel 4 years ago to live at their kh apartment as special pioneers, just received a letter saying "as of january 2016, your special pioneer assignment will be discontinued".. they live in a south miami kh(snapper creek congregation).. this couple had only served in bethel for 15 years before they were sent out into the special pioneer work.

they are now in their mid 50's and the sister said that they have to find part time jobs to support themselves.. the older sister (does not have a pc or internet), says that the couple are just devastated!

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Incognito

For the last 15 years, many Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls in the States that were built included Apartments.

This raises a question: Since the KH properties are zoned for religious use, would zoning bylaws permit full time living accommodation? Perhaps the apartment is designated as a 'Rectory' for a Pastor, Priest, Vicar, etc, to reside in.