Cheyenne, Wyo.-Dyno Nobel now considers its two-year disagreement with two Louisiana contractors on its Cheyenne ammonium nitrate plant a closed matter, and will not appeal a federal jury’s award of more than $6.2 million to the contractors for work done on the plant. Maintenance Enterprises Inc. (MEI) and sister company IMTC claimed that Dyno Nobel reneged on payments and underpaid for their part of the $4 million expansion in 2008. Dyno Nobel maintained that the contractors exceeded an agreed-upon spending cap and incurred schedule and cost overruns. The company sought reimbursement since it had to hire other contractors to fix defects and finish the work. “Although we are disappointed with the outcome, we have no plans to appeal and will move forward with our business,” spokeswoman Diana Roising told Green Markets from the company’s Salt Lake City headquarters. A federal jury in Cheyenne handed down the decision Oct. 26 after hearing from the contractors that Dyno Nobel caused costly delays by issuing incomplete or incorrect engineering documents and information. Actually, the Wyoming expansion has not been smooth going for Dyno Nobel from the start. It was initially expected to cost approximately $50 million and come online as early as the fall of 2007. Costs reached $80 million, while the completion date was pushed back beyond 2008. According to a Green Markets account at the time, the company attributed the problems to changing market conditions, which caused a reexamining both from a scope and a schedule perspective. Crown Enterprises, the parent company of MEI and IMTC, declined comment.
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