Obscure Company-John Galt Corp.- Is Behind 9/11 Demolition Work

[babylonsister]

Obscure Company Is Behind 9/11 Demolition Work
Rob Bennett for The New York Times

The Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Company in the Bronx is one of the companies behind the John Galt Corporation, the demolition contractor for the former Deutsche Bank building.

By CHARLES V. BAGLI, DAVID W. DUNLAP and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: August 23, 2007

The John Galt Corporation of the Bronx, hired last year for the dangerous and complex job of demolishing the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street, where two firefighters died last Saturday, has apparently never done any work like it. Indeed, Galt does not seem to have done much of anything since it was incorporated in 1983.

Public and private records give no indication of how many employees it has, what its volume of business is or who its clients are. There are almost no accounts of any projects it has undertaken on any scale, apart from 130 Liberty Street. Court records are largely silent. Some leading construction executives in the city say they have never even heard of it.

That may not be as surprising as it seems. John Galt, it appears, is not much more than a corporate entity meant to accommodate the people and companies actually doing the demolition job at the emotionally charged and environmentally hazardous site at the edge of ground zero.

The companies and project managers who have been providing the expertise, the workers and the financing for the job are Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Company, which is not in business to demolish skyscrapers, and former executives from Safeway Environmental Corporation, a company that was already removed from one contract at 130 Liberty because of concerns about its integrity.

Using a separate corporation to insulate the assets of a parent company from the enormous potential liabilities of demolition work is not itself unusual. And challenging construction projects in the city often have several companies come together in a joint effort.

The arrangement involving Galt — achieved after multiple companies that had bid on the Deutsche Bank contract were eliminated for one reason or another — is nonetheless odd for such a momentous job, one that is expected ultimately to cost roughly $150 million.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/nyregion/23company.html?ex=1345521600&en=dfef386f8cd7f6ea&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss