"This is in addition to avoiding the significant negative environmental impacts that trucking and processing these materials elsewhere in the state would have caused.". He sold his home in Rocklin and moved to Arizona. To assist in the cleanup, PG&E hired a fleet of as many as 180 hydrovac trucks, which flocked to Paradise from as far away as Kansas City and Montana. PG&E alleges that Huggins was aware of Kooista's actions and did not disclose them. Johal and Singh continued to clash with city regulators over the concrete recycling. The unanimous vote to deny the permits was a potentially devastating blow to Bay Area Concrete. PG&E alleges that Huggins approved false invoices and concealed fraudulent charges throughout PG&Es contract with Bay Area Concrete. Bay Area Concrete opened a dump in Paradise to take the waste from the cleanup. Find Dr. Singh's phone number, address, insurance information, hospital affiliations and more. Over the next year, crews working for the state Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery removed nearly 3.7 million tons of debris, including 673,244 tons of contaminated soil. PG&E paid CCI $150,000 over five weeks without knowing that the company was owned by Kooistra, a violation of PG&E employment and supplier policies. In exchange, the lawsuit alleges, a company linked to Johal and Singh repaved Huggins driveway while they were supposed to be working on a PG&E job. "We will pursue every available action to remedy the situation and do right by those that we have the privilege to serve," Noonan said. PG&E alleges that Huggins was aware of Kooistas actions and did not disclose them. Yadwinder "Yadu" Singh (born 30 December 1986) is an Indian professional basketball player. The county cited the company for illegal importation of dirt used in construction. Work began on the site in December. PG&E alleges that Huggins approved false invoices and concealed fraudulent charges throughout PG&E's contract with Bay Area Concrete. Bay Area Concrete is part of a sprawling network of hauling, recycling and construction companies owned by Bay Area couple Preet Johal and Yadwinder Kevin Singh. The firm was tied to illegal dumping on federally protected wetlands and had engaged in a long conflict with regulators in the city of Hayward, where Bay Area Concrete operates a dump. PG&E asked Kooistra to turn over his company-issued phone, which he did, but he refused to provide his passcode so investigators could access text messages and other data. Internal Medicine (18) 1 Award . Bay Area Concrete is part of a sprawling network of hauling, recycling and construction companies owned by Bay Area couple Preet Johal and Yadwinder "Kevin" Singh. According to PG&Es complaint, CCI did hauling work for Bay Area Concrete, which would submit invoices directly to PG&E. That year, the couple used a holding company to buy a property at 24701 Clawiter Road. As we have stated previously, PG&E will continue to hold ourselves and those that do work on our behalf to the highest ethical standards.. Later, the news agencies revealed a suspicious real estate transaction that connected Singh and one of the PG&E employees. Bauters, who would become the company's top environmental officer, brought with him impeccable credentials. Yadwinder has three known connections and has the most companies in common with Sabrina Hamipi. At the end of the day, this is really an illegal business thats asking to continue operating, Commissioner Gary Patton said at the meeting, and its been illegal since 2013.. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey confirmed that PG&E contacted his office regarding the allegations and said he is waiting for further information from the utility. In February 2020, PG&E canceled Bay Area Concrete's contracts and publicly announced its belief that the waste company had committed fraud. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said last year that PG&E alerted his office to the allegations against Bay Area Concrete. Copyright Weeklys All rights reserved. The Bay City News Foundation and ProPublica first reported the exchange, which one expert described as possible money laundering. PG&E alleges that Huggins was aware of Kooistas actions and did not disclose them. In 16 years, the pair's. Days before the Paradise fire was officially declared contained on Nov. 25, an attorney for Singh and Johal, Steven Benjamin of Sacramento, filed papers with the state for a new real estate company, Regal Rose LLC. "The litigation process will make this clear in time.". In late 2019, PG&E learned of the alleged fraud and launched an investigation. Here's how the scheme worked, according to PG&E's allegations in court filings. Kooistra sold his home in California in February and returned to Arizona, where he founded a pool cleaning business in May. One supervisor for PG&E allegedly had his driveway paved on the power companys dime. He said the company may have overlooked some details as it grew its business. A city water pollution expert warned the runoff could be contaminating San Francisco Bay. Elisa Wilfong, who oversees Hayward's water pollution investigations, said her inspectors issued Bay Area Concrete repeated verbal warnings since 2015. PG&E's court filing alleges that Regal Rose LLC, a shell company established by Singh, was also in possession of a property in Arizona when it was transferred to Kooistra. My Official Page - Yadwinder Singh #14 Power Forward for Indian Senior Men's Basketball Team;. "Their accusations are wrong, and they'll wind up paying us one way or another.". When those did not work, they issued three violations in 2018 for allowing concrete dust into the street, where it clogged storm drains. Please subscribe to keep reading. HAYWARD, CA It was a last-ditch effort to save a scofflaw business. The facility processed the slurry waste from hydrovac trucks, special excavation equipment that uses pressurized water to dig around delicate equipment like buried gas lines or cables. Hayward levied nearly $60,000 in fines over that period. He said the company received only a day's warning when PG&E canceled its contracts and released the CEO's memo. In a letter to PG&E posted to the companys website, Olivero accused PG&E of falsifying accusations to avoid paying bills as the utility still owes the company a substantial sum. He sold his home in Rocklin and moved to Arizona. The wildfire grew rapidly, driven by winds that fanned flames across the region. In 16 years, the pair's. The company is owned and managed by the husband-wife team Yadwinder "Kevin" Singh and Preet Johal, according to local and state documents. PG&E has initiated an internal review to determine why this wasnt detected earlier, and we will be enhancing our protocols to ensure this doesnt happen again, a PG&E spokesperson wrote. Please enter valid email address to continue. ", "We will pursue every available action to remedy the situation and do right by those that we have the privilege to serve," Noonan said. Bay Area Concrete, operating under the name Slurry Waste Solutions, built a specialized disposal facility in Paradise. "It was definitely a battle with the city the whole time," Packal said. In October, the Washington Department of Ecology ordered the company to keep its site clean and halt discharge of wastewater to storm drains. Filing 1 COMPLAINT against Bay Area Concrete, LLC, Bay Area Hyrovac, LLC, PMK Contractors LLC, Preet Johal, Yadwinder Singh (Filing fee $ 402, receipt number 0971-16273295). He filed complaints with the Regional Water Quality Control Board regarding five different disposal sites. Thanks for Not Procreating: Making Census of the Moment. They show that while the 2018 fire still burned in Paradise, an attorney for Bay Area Concretes owners registered a limited liability company at the business address of another one of the owners companies. The litigation process will make this clear in time.. Singh did not respond to requests for comment. To pay the bribes, Singh used a series of real estate transactions involving a 5,600-square-foot home in Saratoga to transfer money to Kooistra, PG&E alleges. Express<br>4. They have since only paid us a portion of that. "We built that site in Paradise for [PG&E], growing an entire site dedicated to rebuilding Paradise," Packal said. This February, as the news organizations began investigating, PG&E publicly accused Bay Area Concrete of defrauding the utility and bribing PG&E employees. The investigation was co-published on Tuesday by ProPublica and the Bay City News Foundation. Since 2010, the power and gas company has been found responsible for 117 deaths and hit with more than $15 billion in fines and damages for failing to maintain gas and power lines that stretch across California. This is in addition to avoiding the significant negative environmental impacts that trucking and processing these materials elsewhere in the state would have caused.. Very good beside manners. The allegations track closely with the results of an investigation last year by ProPublica and the Bay City News Foundation, which found that PG&E had overlooked numerous warning signs when it hired Bay Area Concrete. In 2014, the company was connected to an illegal dumping operation on federally protected wetlands in Newark. "It was pretty much out of control the entire time they were in operation," he said. Ramsey said in an email that he received no further information from PG&E but had determined that his office did not have jurisdiction in the case. He said the utility had offered to pay $9.3 million after the company made a statement accusing PG&E of trying to avoid outstanding fees. Bay Area Concrete opened a dump in Paradise to take the waste from the cleanup. Two days later, Kooistra quit his job, according to the complaint. In business meetings, Singh tends to take the reins, while Johal listens quietly, occasionally asking a question. Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. It is not clear whether or how PG&E vetted Bay Area Concrete before hiring the firm. Kooistra resigned and his supervisor, superintendent of gas transmission and distribution Ron Huggins, also no longer works at PG&E, they said. Huggins did not respond to written questions mailed to his home in Auburn. A sign outside the Sacramento location warns state, city and county inspectors and code enforcement officers that they are not allowed to pass and must call for an escort. In it, Johnson accused Bay Area Concrete of fraud by overcharging PG&E and bribery by paying "large sums of money and gifts" to two PG&E employees who were no longer with the company. In 16 years, the pair's. As a result, the value of Bay Area Concretes contracts with PG&E increased exponentially over a period of four years, the lawsuit said. However, on Feb. 14, he died in what investigators said was a snowboarding accident in Oregon's backcountry slopes. "PG&E has initiated an internal review to determine why this wasn't detected earlier, and we will be enhancing our protocols to ensure this doesn't happen again," a PG&E spokesperson wrote. Bay Area Concrete is part of a sprawling network of hauling, recycling and construction companies owned by Bay Area couple Preet Johal and Yadwinder "Kevin" Singh. In a statement, PG&E spokesperson James Noonan called the alleged actions of Bay Area Concrete completely unacceptable., We will pursue every available action to remedy the situation and do right by those that we have the privilege to serve, Noonan said. Skip to Header OhioHealth Home / Find A Doctor / / Profile PG&E's counterclaim, filed earlier this month, names Bay Area Concrete, both former PG&E employees, Singh, Johal, several of their other companies and Bay Area Concrete CEO Kevin Olivero as defendants. City staff described broken promises, obstruction and apparently willful violation of the law. Bay Area Concrete also said that it continued to work for PG&E as other companies fled when the utility declared bankruptcy in January 2019. They founded their first hauling company, Economy Trucking Services, in 2004. In Richmond, a Contra Costa County Environmental Health Division inspector was asked to leave while investigating complaints of an unpermitted solid waste facility. In an interview, Bay Area Concrete operations manager Chris Packal argued that there were legitimate differences in opinion over what zoning allowed for the site in Hayward. The Bay City News Foundation and ProPublica first reported the exchange, which one expert described as possible money laundering. Rob Roth reports from Paradise. Packal said the arrangement resulted in substantial savings for PG&E in the labor and gas for trips to faraway disposal sites. But the same morning Hayward's Planning Commission officially denied Bay Area Concrete's appeal to continue operating, a PG&E employee called 911 to report a fire in a heavily wooded area by the 115,000-volt Caribou-Palermo transmission line. Kooistra did not respond to attempts to contact him by phone, mail or social media.
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