Hyperion case costs city plenty

In 1999 contractor Dillingham-Ray Wilson filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles for withholding payment for work done at the massive Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant on the coast south of LAX. The city has spent $10 million defending the suit, but lost in June when a judge decided the city owed the firm $12.4 million plus $19 million in penalties and interest. The city also had to pay a $490,000 settlement to an auditor for Controller Laura Chick who claimed he was fired for questioning the city's use of private law firms in the case. Well, it keeps getting worse. Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman this week ordered the city to pay $5.4 million in legal fees to Dillingham-Ray Wilson and another $1.2 million to subcontractor Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. Now City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office says they will invest more money in appeals.