Hawthorne contractor claims county owes $1.2M for Ossining project delays

A Hawthorne contractor claims that Westchester County owes another $1.2 million for extra work performed on a $6 million project at the Ossining Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Clean Air Quality Service Inc. accused the county of unjust enrichment and breach of contract in a March 10 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court.

“Delays, disruptions, obstructions and active interferences were unanticipated and unreasonable,” the complaint states, “and were solely caused by the county.”

Westchester County Attorney John M. Nonna said in an email that he was in no position to comment on the allegations because the county had not yet been served with the complaint.

Clean Air Quality Service, founded in 1991 by Russell Seacor, does large scale HVAC, refrigeration and plumbing work for commercial and industrial clients.

In 2017, the county awarded Clean Air a $5,983,000 contract to replace the boiler and heating system, emergency generator, air conditioning and water system at the Ossining Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“The objective of this contract,” according to a 2016 memo from the Department of Public Works and Transportation, “is to provide reliable heat, hot water, emergency power, air conditioning and plant water.”

The project was delayed by more than a year beyond the original completion date, the complaint states, and the county failed to provide access to the site, improperly coordinated work with others contractors, and forced Clean Air to revise its construction methods and labor scheduling.

Clean Air also accuses the county of failure to recognize and pay claims for extra work and of forcing the company to do extra work without compensation.

Clean Air claims that it did everything it was supposed to do under the contract and that the county had a duty to “pay for the extra work necessary in order to facilitate and complete the construction.”

Clean Air is represented by White Plains attorney Michael E. Greenblatt.