The territorial government of Yukon has filed a lawsuit against a construction company and the insurance company that had served as a surety for the contract over claims that the construction firm’s overhaul work was faulty.
In a statement of claim filed in the Yukon Supreme Court by the Department of Community Services, it was alleged that Wildstone Construction and Engineering’s work to upgrade the Mayo water treatment plant had several “deficiencies.”
According to the lawsuit, the territorial government contracted the Penticton, BC-based Wildstone to upgrade the Mayo water treatment plant in 2017. Said contract was valued at $2.2 million.
But the government alleged in its lawsuit that Wildstone “did not perform the work to the contractual specifications and standard,” listing nine deficiencies in the project which include two leaking tanks that are “both sloped to one side of the tank foundation.” The Yukon government also claimed that anti-rust cathodic protection was not installed in either tank, and that a gravel pad grade band or polyethylene roll was not placed between the steel floor and the tanks’ foundation.
The lawsuit noted that Wildstone was notified in September of the issues, and that the Yukon government later declared the company to be in default under the construction contract. The lawsuit also maintained that the default declaration should have triggered action on the part of Intact Insurance. The insurer was obligated to either remedy the default, pay the bond, or find another company to complete the work, the government claimed, but the lawsuit alleged that Intact did nothing.
The claims have not yet been tested in court. CBC News also reported that as of November 25, neither Wildstone nor Intact Insurance have filed a statement of defense.
