Arbitrator: Norwalk corp. not at fault for fatal explosion

Feb. 23-- Feb. 23--A legal arbitrator has absolved Emcor Group of liability for a 2010 explosion during construction of a power plant in Middletown that killed six workers.

Emcor has its headquarters in Norwalk and provides installation and ongoing maintenance of mechanical and electric systems in commercial buildings in the U.S. and Canada, as well as energy plants. The company added 1,000 employees last year to push its total workforce to 33,000 people.

On Thursday, Emcor informed investors of the January resolution of a legal proceeding in which a contractor had accused its Tucker Mechanical piping installation subsidiary in Meriden of unnecessary delays in subcontractor duties at the Kleen Energy natural-gas power plant that commenced service in 2011.

The year before, gas leaked into an enclosed area of the construction site and ignited, with six men dying in the explosion and 50 more injured. Survivors gathered in Middletown earlier this month to mark the ninth anniversary of the disaster.

The U.S. Department of Labor would issue $16 million in fines after the accident against O&G Industries, Keystone Construction & Maintenance and Bluewater Energy Services, with Tucker Mechanical among 14 subcontractors paying collectively nearly $700,000 more. At the time, it was the third-largest fine in the history of DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Emcor had not indicated the extent of its exposure to any adverse decision as a result of the arbitration proceeding, which it had first disclosed six years ago.

Emcor Group revenue rose 11 percent in the fourth quarter to $2.2 billion, pushing to a record $8.1 billion its full-year revenue. Fourth-quarter profits totaled $78 million, contributing to a 25 percent boost in earnings for the year to $284 million.

On a Wednesday conference call, Emcor CEO Tony Guzzi said Emcor continues to see gains in energy sector contracts, as shale fields open up new sources of natural gas and crude refineries increase their output.

Guzzi also touched on the impact of on-again, off-again trade threats between the Trump administration and China, suggesting it will have a longer-term impact on the U.S. economy regardless of any new trade relationship the countries eventually hammer out.

"Here's what I think is true: it has caused a ... long overdue reexamination of supply chains, and as a result of that I think work is coming back into the United States," Guzzi said. "Now, it's coming back in a little differently -- there's going to be a lot more automation, which is good for people like us; we're going to be helping people expand, grow and reconfigure their plants."

-- Includes prior reporting by Cassandra Day.

[email protected]; 203-842-2545; @casoulman

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