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Company with complaints sues Lordstown power plant developer for $6.9 million
By Ed Runyan
LORDSTOWN
Vienna Investments of Youngstown, the company that raised safety questions about the proposed second power plant for the Lordstown Industrial Park, also has a pending lawsuit against the project’s developer.
Vienna Investments filed suit against Clean Energy Future in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Aug. 3 seeking damages of $6.9 million, alleging Clean Energy Future agreed to purchase land and a building in the park being used by Magna Seating and owned by Vienna Investments for $6.9 million but backed out.
The suit alleges that Bill Siderewicz, Clean Energy Future president, falsely indicated Clean Energy Future would buy the property after Vienna Investments agreed to modify industrial park restrictions that would have prevented Clean Energy Future from building there.
The sale was set to close Nov. 1, 2016, but it never did, the suit says. The suit says Clean Energy Future breached its contractual obligations.
The only recourse for Vienna Investments in the contract was to demand payment of the escrowed funds, the suit says.
That amount “is disproportionate to the amount of actual damages sustained by Vienna Investments,” the suit says.
Siderewicz could not be reached Monday to comment.
On July 6, Vienna Investments filed a notice with the Ohio Power Siting Board in Columbus, the body that approves or refuses permits for power plants, asking to be allowed to “intervene” in the permitting process.
It filed a separate document saying it wanted to express its concerns for safety and to ensure the project complied with the restrictions of the industrial park.
Douglas Lumsden Jr., managing member of Vienna Investments, also filed testimony with the Siting Board on Aug. 4, expressing concerns for issues such as noise coming from the plant.
Lumsden withdrew from the permitting process Aug. 9 and withdrew his earlier objections. The filing didn’t explain why.
No hearing date in the civil suit has been set. Assigned to the case is Judge Andrew Logan.