Lawsuit lays blame for illegal dumping in Bellevue stream on Mt. Juliet firm
A Mt. Juliet construction firm is accused of bungling the development of a new Bellevue apartment complex and illegally dumping piles of rock, dirt and building debris into a stream near the site.
Illinois-based McShane Construction is suing Grade A Construction of Mt. Juliet for $2.9 million to cover the cost of repairing the environmental damage as well as resulting project delays caused by their alleged wrongdoings.
"Grade A’s work was defective, nonconforming, negligently performed, or delayed," the lawsuit said. "Grade A failed to correct or address the defects so as to prevent the damages sustained by McShane in this matter, and McShane was ultimately required to perform the corrective work itself."
A representative of Grade A did not respond to requests for comment about the legal complaint filed in Chancery Court of Davidson County on Feb. 19.
Crescent Communities, the owner of the 322-unit Novel Harpeth Heights community behind the One Bellevue Place shopping and dining center in Bellevue, hired McShane in 2021 to build the project. In turn, McShane hired Grade A Construction as a subcontractor to do excavation, grading and utility installation, among other work, according to construction contracts.
Grade A has been part of construction teams on numerous local residential, commercial and government projects including a private aviation terminal at Nashville International Airport, Nashville Fire Department Station 37 and the 16-acre Shoppes at Northgate in Murfreesboro.
Lawsuit: Problems piled up at construction site culminating in stop-work order
Problems surfaced shortly after Grade A began work excavating soil and grading the construction site to create an even surface for building.
Grade A miscalculated grading measurements and left piles of "excess excavated rock" in "massive stockpiles around the project site," McShane states in the lawsuit.
The mistakes caused costly delays in construction. Grade A responded by making an agreement with a neighboring property owner to relocate the debris there for $50,000.
But Grade A failed to get the permits needed to relocate the debris and dumped it in and around a stream, in violation of state and local environmental laws, the lawsuit said.
Metro Water Services responded by issuing a stop-work order on the project on July 28, 2022 until the stream and surrounding area was cleared of the trash.
Metro inspectors also issued violation notices and fines because the site was not properly graded and did not have adequate erosion protection and sediment control.
The damages, including construction delays, cost McShane $2.9 million. They are also seeking attorney fees from Grade A.
"Grade A has materially breached the subcontract by, among other things, violating state and local laws, performing defective work, refusing to remediate its defective work, abandoning the Project, and repeatedly failing to diligently prosecute the work and achieve substantial completion of its work under the subcontract," the lawsuit said.
Sandy Mazza can be reached via email at smazza@tennessean.com, by calling 615-726-5962, or on Twitter @SandyMazza.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mt. Juliet construction firm hit with $2.9M illegal-dumping lawsuit
