But even without Bauters, Bay Area Concrete says its fight with PG&E is just beginning. Not only did Lucero not have permission to dump there, but it was on wetlands adjacent to the wildlife refuge, which is home to endangered salt marsh harvest mice and burrowing owls. 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. Kooistra sold his home in California in February and returned to Arizona, where he founded a pool cleaning business in May. 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. And soon PG&E would be doing more business with Bay Area Concrete than ever. 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. The full investigation is available here: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-pg-e-contractor-with-a-sketchy-past-made-millions-after-californias-deadliest-fire. Olivero wrote that PG&E owed the company more than $14 million. That business grew substantially in November 2018, when a PG&E transmission line sparked a wildfire in Butte County that destroyed more than 18,000 structures and killed 85 people. Packal denied that Bay Area Concrete had paid out any bribes. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said last year that PG&E alerted his office to the allegations against 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Other Specialty (7) 2 Awards . Responsible for early character designs and explorations for an upcoming animated TV series. He said the company may have overlooked some details as it grew its business. But that same day, a spark ignited brush in the remote foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. Another shell company, CCI Management, was owned by Kooistra and acted as a subcontractor for Bay Area Concrete in Paradise. He graduated from GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY / MEDICAL COLLEGE in 1991. In February, PG&E CEO William Johnson publicly accused Hayward-based Bay Area Concrete Recycling of defrauding the utility and bribing PG&E employees. The company is owned and managed by the husband-wife team Yadwinder Kevin Singh and Preet Johal, according to local and state documents. According to the disposal company, it racked up $14 million in unpaid invoices. As a result, the value of Bay Area Concrete's contracts with PG&E increased "exponentially" over a period of four years, the lawsuit said. All Rights Reserved. "This is in addition to avoiding the significant negative environmental impacts that trucking and processing these materials elsewhere in the state would have caused.". In a letter to PG&E posted to the company's website, Olivero accused PG&E of falsifying accusations to avoid paying bills as the utility still owes the company a substantial sum. Kooistra resigned and his supervisor, superintendent of gas transmission and distribution Ron Huggins, also no longer works at PG&E, according to the news organizations' investigation. The litigation process will make this clear in time.. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said last year that PG&E alerted his office to the allegations against Bay Area Concrete. Bay Area Concrete stuck around and opened a new dump on PG&E property in Petaluma. The dumpsite proved its worth in October 2019, when a 77,000-acre blaze known as the Kincade fire broke out north of Santa Rosa. But at a city Planning Commission meeting in November 2018, commissioners were unmoved. Despite that, PG&E then contracted with Bay Area Concrete to play a key role in the cleanup after the Camp Fire. Mike Mibach catches up with the principal investigator of the new study along with a San Francisco fire captain to discuss the results. The company declined to make Singh or Johal available for an interview. 2023 FOX Television Stations, until WED 9:00 AM PST, Mendocino County Coast, until WED 8:00 AM PST, Carquinez Strait and Delta, from THU 2:00 AM PST until THU 8:00 AM PST, Carquinez Strait and Delta, from WED 1:00 AM PST until WED 8:00 AM PST, North Bay interior valleys, East Bay Interior Valleys, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Mountains and Los Padres National Forest, from THU 12:00 AM PST until THU 9:00 AM PST, Mendocino County Coast, High Stakes: Sports Betting in California, Japanese startup announces balloon flights taking passengers up to space. When confronted by PG&E investigators, Huggins told the investigators he had paid the $16,750 bill in cash, which he happened to have on hand in his house. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. "We're a hypergrowing company, we were exploding," Packal said. His duties included collecting money from contractors dumping dirt and demolition debris and using a bulldozer to spread the dumped material. Yadwinder Singh Project Technician at F12.net Calgary, Alberta, Canada 235 followers 233 connections Join to view profile F12.net Seneca College About Customer service focused System. 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. Despite that, PG&E then contracted with Bay Area Concrete to play a key role in the cleanup after the Camp Fire. 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. - California utility PG&E, facing billions of dollars in potential liabilities over its role in. PG&E dumped truckloads of slurry waste as they began digging up damaged gas lines. . 32 years exp . A Santa Clara University psychology professor said the enormity of the destruction and devastation in Paradise can take an emotional toll on fire victim and leave psychological scars. PG&E then suspended business with the five sites, all competitors of Bay Area Concrete, pending the outcome of the water board's investigation. PG&E alleges that in exchange for these kickbacks, the employees provided lucrative clean-up jobs to Hayward-based Bay Area Concrete Recycling. 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. 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. Bauters spoke in defense of Bay Area Concrete, arguing that city staff had not responded to the company's attempts to come into compliance. Yadwinder "Yadu" Singh (born 30 December 1986) is an Indian professional basketball player. A subordinate is accused of having received a bribe in an unorthodox property transfer of a multimillion-dollar house in a wealthy suburb of San Francisco. PG&E hired Bay Area Concrete to dispose of waste from hydrovac trucks -- special vacuum trucks that use pressurized water for precise excavation. Huggins did not respond to written questions mailed to his home in Auburn. That business grew substantially in November 2018, when a PG&E transmission line sparked a wildfire in Butte County that destroyed more than 18,000 structures and killed 85 people. But slurry can be tough to get rid of. "We built that site in Paradise for [PG&E], growing an entire site dedicated to rebuilding Paradise," Packal said. Bauters, who would become the company's top environmental officer, brought with him impeccable credentials. Olivero reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to testify against Lucero. As a result, the value of Bay Area Concretes contracts with PG&E increased exponentially over a period of four years, the lawsuit said. Something. The pair were careful to keep Bay Area Concrete's purchase orders low enough that Huggins would not have to seek approval from his supervisors. At the time, PG&E owed Bay Area Concrete nearly $4 million, according to bankruptcy filings. Listing photos showed a home gym, billiard room and in-ground swimming pool with panoramic mountain views. Huggins did not respond to written questions mailed to his home in Auburn. Meanwhile, competing companies lost work with PG&E. During the 2018 trial, he testified that Lucero had hired him in June 2014 to run the site. Singh and Johal wanted to negotiate an exclusive contract to dump on the property. Bay Area Concrete, operating under the name Slurry Waste Solutions, built a specialized disposal facility in Paradise. Bay Area Concrete has said that PG&E's accusations of fraud are false and the bankrupt utility was just trying to get out of paying its bills. Meanwhile, competing companies lost work with PG&E. Dust from recycled concrete, she said, may have polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, carcinogens that were banned in 1978. Nearly two years after the deadly Camp Fire, a new era for California's utilities is still taking shape. "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. The couple did not respond to requests for comment via mail, phone, email and social media. In response to a long list of questions, PG&E provided a brief statement that did not directly address how warning signs like the company owners' long conflict with the city of Hayward and participation in an illegal dumping operation were overlooked. Journalist Camille Von Kaenel explains on The Four. On Feb. 24, 2020, PG&E released the memo from CEO William Johnson to the media. PG&E did not say how much the utility believes it was overcharged by Bay Area Concrete as it continues to investigate. Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more. They have since only paid us a portion of that. Kooistra, a PG&E supervisor in charge of liquid waste disposal whose area included Paradise, found a solution. 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. Four days later, he retired. Hydro excavation trucks use pressurized water to dig around delicate equipment and avoid accidentally rupturing a gas pipeline or destroying buried wires. From Paradise, the truck operators would have to drive long distances to dump their loads, to places such as Chico, Sacramento or Tracy, slowing down the work and making it more expensive. In 2017, Bay Area Concrete opened new slurry waste disposal facilities in Richmond and Sacramento. Yadwinder Singh, MD specializes in Internal Medicine at OhioHealth Physician Group in Circleville, OH. In 2014, the company was connected to an illegal dumping operation on federally protected wetlands in Newark. 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 alleges that Kooistra and Huggins steered PG&E contracts to Bay Area Concrete and other companies controlled by Singh and Johal. In 16 years, the pair's. Circleville, OH . According to PG&Es complaint, CCI did hauling work for Bay Area Concrete, which would submit invoices directly to PG&E. You have permission to edit this article. NodeJs<br>2. The complaint alleges that Huggins and Kooistra approved the overbilled work in exchange for kickbacks. Attempts to reach the couple through their attorney, phone calls, social media and mail were unsuccessful. Kooistra resigned and his supervisor, superintendent of gas transmission and distribution Ron Huggins, also no longer works at PG&E, they said. 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. 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). Later, the news agencies revealed a suspicious real estate transaction that connected Singh and one of the PG&E employees. 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. In July 2018, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a notice of noncompliance saying that the Sacramento facility, still under construction, lacked proper state permits. Year that PG & E, facing billions of dollars in potential liabilities its. Transaction that connected Singh and Johal wanted to negotiate an exclusive contract to dump on PG & dumped. 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