NASHVILLE (CN) - Midwest Construction Products Corporation has been telling customers that its flood-control gabions comply with ASTM International standards when they do not, Nevada-based Terra Aqua Gabions claims in Davidson County Court.
Terra originally filed suit in February 2005, after losing a bid to Midwest for an order to supply SEI Environmental with gabions for a project dubbed the Washington County EWP. The case was voluntarily dismissed in March 2008.
In the current lawsuit, Terra claims the advertisements Midwest used to get the job clearly and falsely state that its gabions conform to ASTM standard A974-97, which requires gabions to be made with all components except the mattress lid at the production facility.
Gabions are stone-filled wire baskets used for earth retention and flood control. They can cause great harm, according to the lawsuit, if they aren't held to strict standards.
Terra says Midwest doesn't comply with the standard, because another company supplies the raw materials and wire used to make the gabions.
Terra's lawyer, Malcolm McCune of Blackburn & McCune, says Midwest's false advertisements have cost Terra business and asks for $250,000 in damages.
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