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Estimating
We are still waiting to receive the approval to proceed
with this building. We have been informed that it will be
awarded to us but we are not too sure when. The entire project
is on hold right now.
We submitted our pricing for the ten pre-engineered steel
buildings in Miramichi, New Brunswick. We have been informed
that this project has been cancelled.
The steel fabrication building that we priced several months
ago appears to be coming closer to reality. It was a 20,000
square foot building with two overhead cranes. This project
has been cancelled as well.
So far, the 100,000 square foot building for a former client
is still moving ahead. It has not been cancelled and looks
quite promising. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Clinton submitted pricing for a small concrete job at Essar
and is waiting to hear back from them.
Tim was successful on his tender to Praxair for the remaining
concrete work and has been awarded the job. KKC has mobilized
to site and has started work.
It is quite dead and everyone you talk to says the same
thing. Other than the large projects being done by out of
town contractors, there is not much happening.
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New Employees
We now have most of our crew back to work and have even
hired 4 or 5 guys from Hornepayne.
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Becker Cogeneration Biomass Storage Building
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This one is still on hold and has had a few more revisions.
More news next month, I hope
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Becker Cogeneration Building and Equipment
Foundations
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As mentioned above, this project is on hold due to a dispute
between the Owners and Ontario Hydro. John and his crew
have now poured 330 cubic metres of concrete. They are working
on the perimeter dado walls, the inertia block, turbine
foundations and the boiler foundations. John says the black
flies arrived on May 17th to help out! We were informed
on Friday, May 21st that the project was being put on hold.
We are hoping that this dispute will be resolved quickly
and we can get back to work.
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Ellsin Environmental Tire Recycling Plant
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We finally received a foundation permit after what seems
like forever. Ken C (KKC) will be the Super on this one.
He has moved our trailer on site and is getting organized.
General Contracting is on site installing the entrance culverts,
hauling in fill to raise the grade and preparing the site
for the structural slab. The Steelway building was delivered
on May 31st and we had to unload it and stack it on the
ground; would have been nice to have had the permit earlier
and got the slab poured
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Blind River Public Works Buildings, Sal-Dan
Developments
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The first Steelway building was delivered on May 25th,
it was the Works Garage. Dwayne, along with Terry, Cris,
Justin, Lenny and Glen were there to unload it. They had
a few problems with the anchor bolts but that was rectified
by Sal-Dan crews. The main structural steel was completed
by May 31st. Dwayne says the radiused corners fit together
well. The MOL was on site the first day we were and everything
was OK. The next building will be delivered on June 7th.
Dwayne will have a crew begin to erect that one and another
crew starting the roof liner on the first building.
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Sid has this project coming along quite well. The slab
was formed; the rebar and in-floor heating piping installed
and OCF poured the concrete on May 12th. The Steelway building
was delivered and unloaded on May 4th. Steel erection began
on May 17th and was pretty much done on May 21st. The siding
installation started on May 25th and the roofing was to
begin shortly after that. Sid had a MOL inspection on May
25th and all was well. Bob, our Safety Director, is scheduled
to do a site safety audit on June 1st. General Contracting
is on site backfilling and raising the grades. DMC Reinforcing
did the rebar in the slab, DNM Plumbing did the in-floor
heating rough-in and Permanent Electric was on site as well.
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Praxair T900 Oxygen Plant
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KKC is on site with Andy, Gerry and Mike. They have been
pouring various concrete foundations and are relocating
the entrance gate. They have to form and pour the Cold Box
which has about 350 m³ of concrete but they have to
wait for a few other things to happen before they can do
it. Access on this site is very tight.
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Northern Credit Union
Wayne, along with Donnie, Scott and Randy are installing
the millwork for Black Loon Millworks. They should have
it completed by the end of June. They just finished up installing
all of the millwork at the new Marriott Fairfield Inn.
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CONVENTIONS & SOCIAL EVENTS
Kim and Dwayne entered a team in the recent 3 on
3 hockey tournament and provided us with some pictures of
the "Mike Moore & Sons" team. Shown in the
MMS team picture are (kneeling, left to right) Kevin, Kim,
Melissa H, Megan H, Sarah F and Sherry B. Standing is Clinton,
Lisa Perry, Waylon L, Dwayne, Kevin and Gene.
 Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2 | Photo
#3
Congratulations
To the Sault Steelers who are currently in first place with
a 2-0 record.
The June Birthday Club:
Gerry B. June 4th
Scott G. June 17th
Terry G. June 26th
Mike Moore & Sons Construction's
Donation Status
| 2009
Donation Goal |
50 |
| YTD
Donations |
23 |
| Total
Donations (Total donations since
joining Partners for Life) |
256 |
June Clinic Times
Monday, June 28th 4:00 pm to 7:15 pm Verdi Hall
Tuesday, June 29th 11:45 am to 6:00 pm Verdi Hall
Please see the attached announcement from Canadian Blood
Service. National Blood Donor week in June 14-20 and World
Blood Day is June 14th. Please get out and donate this month.
 Canadian
Blood Services announcement
Tibits
Here are a couple of good ones from Shauna.
Confused
I became confused when I heard the word "service"
used with these agencies.
Revenue Canada 'Service'
Postal 'Service'
Telephone 'Service'
Cable TV 'Service'
Civil 'Service'
City, Provincial & Public 'Service'
Customer 'Service'
This is not what I thought 'Service' meant.
But today, I overheard two farmers talking and one of them
said he had hired a bull to 'service' his cows.
BAM!!!! It all came into focus. Now I understand what all
of those agencies are doing to us!
Charity
I just had a call from a Charity asking me to donate some
of my clothes to the starving people throughout the world.
I told them to screw off!! Anybody who fits into my clothes
isn't starving!!!!!
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We now have 619,102 man hours with no Lost Time Injuries
(LTI) or a total of 4,272 days. We only have 380,898 man
hours to go to reach our goal of 1,000,000 accident free
hours.
Fern and I along with Barney, Storm and Coors the cat flew
into our Tribble Lake Resort on May 19th for the long weekend.
We made it up to the dock with the floatplane despite the
fact that the water is down almost 4 feet. Our dock is just
about out of the water! We had a great time and got lots
of company work done on our laptops. This was the first
May long weekend in almost 5 years that we did not have
to have a fire at night time. The bugs weren't that bad
at all. We had quite an experience when Air Dale came to
pick us up. We got the float plane "stuck" on
a bald rock just in front of our dock. Pilot John had a
bit of trouble getting up to the dock, but managed on his
second try. He brought us in a load of wood and 3 floats
that we will be using to build an 8' x 8' floating dock.
We unloaded all of it and then loaded our stuff into the
plane. Coors (the cat) travels in a fold down cat crate
and when we went to load him in, the "cat got out of
the bag! The zipper separated and came apart AND off ran
Coors with Fern in hot pursuit. She managed to catch him
and we had to duct tape the bag together. Once everything
was loaded and Fern and the boys were on board, my job was
to push the plane straight out from the dock as far as I
could and then jump in quickly. When John had come into
the dock, he lifted his water rudders so as not to damage
them. When he fired up the plane, he could not turn quickly
to head out to deeper water as the tail section had to clear
the dock. When it was clear he tried to turn out but couldn't
and we slowly pulled up onto the baled rock and were stuck.
John shut off the plane and I got out onto the float to
try and get us free. John couldn't steer because he forgot
to put down the water rudders! He had to get out and we
both tried to get us free, no luck. We finally decided that
one of us would have to jump in the water to free us and
John went in. The water wasn't deep, just wet. He managed
to get us free and off we went. Too bad I couldn't get any
pictures!
I turned 55 on May 13th, the same day as our Construction
Association Board meeting. Someone must have remembered
that because Rick and Tammy got me a Birthday Cake and the
Board members ended up singing me Happy Birthday! Thanks
everyone, I have never had that happen at a Board meeting.
Guess I am a senior now, do I get the Seniors Discount?
The guys in Hornepayne are entertaining the wildlife in
the evening as the pictures show. They had a small fox showing
up at their cabin so JR decided to share his French Fries
with it. Hey JR, did he want ketchup or gravy on them?
Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2
Phyllis, our "cleaning lady" lives next door
to the Adler Moving warehouse project. She knew Dwayne was
working on site and she baked up some chocolate chip cookies
and brought them over to Dwayne. I think he was supposed
to share them with the guys on site but if you look at the
picture below, that is the container of cookies on the floor
of the zoom boom at Dwayne's feet. I think he was keeping
them all to himself!
Photos:
Photo
#1
And while we are picking on Dwayne, you may remember he
recently purchased a new boat. Dwayne and Kim picked up
their new boat and decided to go to a boat launch and give
the launching thing a try. Dwayne said "What could
be so hard about this." We just happened to get a picture
of the launching. Dwayne, you are supposed to back the boat
into the water not drive the truck in!
Photos:
Photo
#1
Now for something very serious. I just have to make a comment
on the massive disaster that BP Oil and the U.S. government
(Mineral Management Services) have been allowed to make
in the Gulf of Mexico. It is both saddening and sickening
to see such a catastrophe, eleven men have lost their lives,
their families are grieving, the fisherman and other businesses
are suffering serious hardships and the oil covered birds
and fish are either dead or dying. How could this have been
allowed to happen? So far the well has spewed out over 630,000
barrels of crude or 28 million gallons and it still continues
after 42 days (May 31st) and several botched efforts to
cap it.
As Bart Stupak (Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations) said what they have learned from the May
12th hearing, "is that BP Oil, Transocean and Halliburton
failed to address various issues with the rig, the well
and the blowout preventer prior to the explosion. BP and
Transocean failed to ensure that the blowout preventer was
fully operational. BP and Halliburton failed to identify
discrepancies in pressure tests done during the 'cementing'
of the well. BP reported that it had concerns about whether
proper procedures were followed at critical times prior
to and on the day of the explosion. 88,502 square miles
of coastal waters or 37% of U.S. waters in the Gulf have
been closed. Oil from the spill has reached barrier islands
in Alabama and Mississippi and will reach Florida's shores
very soon."
The U.S. government is now carrying out a criminal investigation
and so they should. There should be senior management going
to jail for a long time.
And I find it quite interesting that BP's, CEO, Tony Hayward
earns $4.5 million U.S. or over $12,000.00 each day for
365 days a year plus bonuses, benefits and stock options.
In his wisdom he chose to make several stupid comments such
as "No one wants this thing cleaned up more than me,
I just want my life back."
What about the 11 men that lost their lives? Tony also says
"The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount
of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is
tiny in relation to the total water volume." What an
idiot!
Now let's look at BP's dismal safety record: (as reported
by ABC News)
- BP has one of the worst Safety Records
of any oil company operating in the U.S.
- In two separate disasters prior to the
Gulf oil rig explosion, 30 BP workers have been killed and
more than 200 have been seriously injured.
- In the last 5 years, Investigators found
BP has admitted to breaking U.S. environmental and safety
laws and committing outright fraud. BP has paid $373 million
in fines to avoid prosecution.
- BP's safety violations far outstrip its
fellow oil companies. According to the Center for Public
Integrity, in the last three years, BP refineries in Ohio
and Texas have accounted for 97% of the "Egregious,
willful violations handed out by the OSHA"
- The violations are determined when an
employer demonstrated either an "intentional disregard
for the requirements of the law or showed plain indifference
to employee safety and health
- OSHA statistics show BP ran up 760 "egregious,
willful" safety violations compared to Sunoco and Conoco-Phillips
who each had eight, CITGO had two and Exxon had one comparable
citation.
- After a 2005 BP refinery explosion in
Texas that killed 15 people and injured 180, BP admitted
that its written procedures to ensure its equipment's safety
were inadequate and that it had failed to inform employees
of known fire and explosion risks. BP paid $50 million in
criminal fines in connection with that disaster
- Yet BP never fixed the problems in Texas.
Just last October OSHA fined BP $87 million because it had
failed to correct the safety problems at the rebuilt plant.
That represented the largest fine in OSHA history
- In 2007, a BP pipeline spilled more than
200,000 gallons of crude oil into the pristine Alaskan wilderness.
Investigators discovered that BP was aware of corrosion
along the pipeline where the leak occurred but did not respond
appropriately. BP was forced to pay $12 million in criminal
fines for the spill and another $4 million to the State
of Alaska
BP infractions were more than environmental. The Justice
Department required the company to pay $353 million as part
of an agreement to defer prosecution on charges that the
company conspired to manipulate the propane gas market.
Investigators found that some BP traders were stockpiling
propane which forced the market prices to skyrocket. After
their incriminating conversation about controlling the market
were caught on tape, three BP traders were indicted. The
alleged price gouging affected as many as 7 million propane
customers and cost the consumers $53 million.
But for a company that reported profits of $14 billion in
2009, the fines represent a small fraction of the cost of
doing business.
Now let's see how safe BP is working. They are drilling
in 5,000 feet of water and all of their fail safe systems
have failed. What is their backup plan in the worst case
scenario?
End of April
Solution: Robots to shut blowout preventer
Outcome: Failed
May 4th
Solution: Drilling a relief well
Outcome: This well is expected to be complete some time
in August (3 months)
May 7th
Solution: Set the first containment dome
Outcome: Failed
May 12th
Solution: Second containment dome or "top hat"
Outcome: Abandoned
May 14th
Solution: Install a riser insertion tube
Outcome: Most successful yet, capturing about 3,000 barrels
per day
May 25th
Solution: "Top kill"
Outcome: Failed
May 28th
Solution: "Junk shot"
Outcome: Failed
June 1st
Solution: "Cut and cap"
Outcome: Failed
June 3rd
Solution: An altered version of "cut and cap"
Outcome: Capturing more oil but still not capped
With oil gushing out into the Gulf for more than a month,
every attempt, including the latest "cut and cap"
to stop the leak has failed or fallen short. And every time
they tried something they always stated "But this has
never been tried at this depth before" Then they should
not have been allowed to be drilling with no fail safe plans
in place.
Let's take a look at Transocean. In their 2009 report to
the shareholders they state "Transocean produced a
total shareholder return in excess of 75% in 2009. Despite
crude oil prices down nearly 40% we were still able to generate
the third-highest earnings in our company's history."
Their revenue for 2009 was $11.56 billion!
They also state "Unfortunately, despite our continued
focus on safety and operational excellence, four of our
employees suffered fatal accidents while working on our
rigs in 2009. That's 15 fatalities in just over 15 months!
Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor
which owned the Deepwater Horizon, filed papers in a Houston
court on May 13th seeking to limit its legal liability to
$27 million.
I don't know about you, but I think something stinks here!
And then there is the good old Minerals Management Service
(MMS), a unit of the Department of the Interior of the U.S.
government. They manage US natural gas, oil and other mineral
resources. The federal offshore mineral leases as well as
its onshore leases bring in more than $10 billion annually.
Drilling for oil and gas on federal lands and waters produces
the second largest source of revenue for the federal government
other than taxes. They are charged with the management of
the renewable energy, oil, gas and mineral resources in
an environmentally sound and safe manner. They are also
responsible for inspection and oversight of energy companies
to ensure they are following the law and protecting the
safety of their workers and the environment.
MMS Role in the 2010 BP Oil Spill
- March 2008- The
mineral rights to drill for oil were purchased by BP at
the MMS's lease sale.
- MMS's 2009 decision that acoustically-controlled
shut-off valves (BOP) would not be required as a last
resort against underwater spills at the site.
- MMS's failure to suggest other "fail-safe"
mechanisms after a 2004 report raised questions about
the reliability of the electrical remote-control devices.
- MMS granted a categorical exclusion
waiver on April 6/09 to BP exempting it from the National
Environmental Policy Acts requirements including a detailed
environmental analysis, concluding the spill risk in that
part of the Gulf was "minimal or nonexistent."
Such NEPA waivers have become routine at MMS and the Interior
department approves 250 to 400 per year for the Gulf projects.
- MMS gave permission to BP and dozens
of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf without first
getting the required permits from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that assesses threats
to endangered species and despite strong warnings from
NOAA about the impact the drilling was likely to have
on the Gulf. Those approvals, federal records show, include
one for the well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig.
- MMS routinely overruled its staff
biologists and engineers who raised concerns about the
safety and the environmental impact of drilling proposals
in the Gulf and Alaska.
- Since the April 20th explosion on
the Deepwater Horizon, 27 new offshore drilling projects
have been approved by MMS. All but one project was granted
exemptions from the environmental review as was BP. Two
of the applications were made by BP making the same claims
about oil rig safety and the implausibility of a spill
damaging the environment.
- Elizabeth Birnbaum assumed the duties
of Director of the MMS on July 15/09 and resigned on May
27th amidst the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
- On September 10/08, Interior's Inspector
reported more than a dozen employees of MMS for accepting
gifts, steering contracts, drug use and illicit sex with
employees of the energy firms.
- On October 7/09, the US House Oversight
Committee reported the loss of billions of dollars in
revenue resulting from MMS mismanagement and cozy relationships
with industry officials.
- On May 11/10 as a result of the BP
oil spill, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar announced
that MMS would be restructured so that safety and the
environment functions are carried out by a unit with full
independence from MMS.
- Another outcome of the spill was that
the Associate Director for offshore energy, Chris Oynes
retired.
- Bobby Maxwell, a former MMS Service
Auditor who spent 22 years with the Interior Department
unit told CNN that he witnessed "inspections"
on off shore oil rigs that were barely worth the name.
"They would look at some papers, have lunch, shake
hands with their friends and say goodbye." Maxwell
told CNN the agency had a "culture of corruption"
and the inspections he saw were like a country fair, all
play and no real work. Maxwell is still litigating a $60
million whistleblower suit he filed against the agency.
- Interior Department Secretary Ken
Salazar during an appearance before the House Committee
on Natural Resources acknowledged some of the past conduct
was "scandalous" and "reprehensible."
So who can we really blame for this mess, BP Oil, Transocean,
the US Government (MMS) or a combination of all three? Greed
and corruption come to mind.
Kind of reminds me of the old Zager & Evans song, "In
The Year 2525" which one line states "He's taken
everything this old earth can give and he ain't put back
nothing"
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As smart as my Project Managers
are, they have still not figured out how to put the toilet paper
on the holder! Come on guys!
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