Trusting the BWCA to the bridge-fail engineers? Think twice

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Image credit: Flickr user thenip73

In today's Star Tribune - "35W bridge collapse lawyer: Think twice about hiring URS Corp.":

Chris Messerly, an attorney for many of the victims of the 2007 tragedy, made his comments in response to a report that the Metropolitan Council is considering giving URS a major contract for the proposed Southwest Corridor light rail line in the Twin Cities. “You kind of have to think twice as to why the state would hire them yet again given their track record in our state,” he said.  

“We uncovered a lot of issues that were extremely troubling to us” regarding the 35W bridge collapse. “This wasn’t in our view just a negligent actor. It was someone who deliberately disregarded the public safety,” said Messerly. “Maybe they’ve remedied all those problems – I don’t know,” he added. “But, certainly, if someone’s going to hire them they better look to see if URS has fixed their problems that led to the I-35W bridge collapsing.” 

From an October 2011 press release from Twin Metals, which seeks to develop a sulfide mine just outside of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness:

"We are pleased to have URS, one of the most highly rated and respected environmental and engineering companies retained to lead Twin Metals' environmental permitting efforts," stated Christopher Dundas, Chairman and CEO of Duluth Metals. "Twin Metals' commitment to northern Minnesota and environmental stewardship requires the reputation and experience of a company such as URS for this world class deposit."

Is it any wonder that Minnesotans don't trust the environmental promises of the multinational corporations that want to mine copper on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters?

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