SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)-California Attorney General Jerry Brown is set to receive a million-dollar check after bridge builder MCM Construction settled allegations it violated the state's air quality laws.
Brown's office will be paid $1,087,600 for its part of the settlement, while checks to various air quality districts began arriving in July, court papers show.
Following a three-year investigation, the attorney general's office filed a $35 million lawsuit in 2006 against the Sacramento, Calif.-based company in conjunction with the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office and the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The court ordered the company, which is the fifth largest bridge builder in the nation, to pay a total of $6 million in fines and fees. The attorney general's office received the lion's share of the payment. The remaining money was split between 15 state air quality districts.
MCM was ordered to spend $2 million toward improvements in the company's business operations. This includes replacing equipment that does not meet California's environmental standards, training its employees to take better precautions to protect rivers at construction sites and to implement an auditing process.