September 2011

The Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council
News Update
In This Issue
Pinal County plans $6 million courthouse overhaul
Work heats up at Dateland-area solar plant
Saint-Gobain Solar Invests in New Plant
Rosemont sues county to speed permit decision
Rosemont Copper's permit request denied
Western, utilities commit to Arizona renewable transmission project
Glendale hopes bill will halt Tohono O'odham's casino plan
Arizona officials back bill to streamline rules for small hydropower plants
US Department of Energy backs more solar projects

Arizona Building Trades Elected Officials


President: Martin "Buzz" Murphy

Ironworkers 75  

602-268-1449 Ext. 11

[email protected] 

 

Vice President: Dean Wine

IBEW 640

602-264-4506

[email protected]

 

Secretary Treasurer: Dion Abril

Sheet Metal 359

602-275-6511

[email protected]  

 

Trustee: Les Andree

Sprinkler Fitters 669

(520) 324-0606

[email protected].net 


Trustee: Tom Hardie

Cement Masons 394

602-252-4278

[email protected]

 

Trustee: Dale Medley

Asbestos Workers 73 

602-225-0435

[email protected]

 

Sgt. at Arms: Randy Storr

Elevator Constructors 140

602-273-0025

[email protected]  

 

 

Address:

3117 North 16th Street Suite 120
Phoenix, AZ 85016  

 

Contact Us:

480-275-4553

 

[email protected]

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Arizona Building Trades Members


(Click members to visit their websites)

Arizona Cement Masons, Local 394

Arizona Pipe Trades, Local 469

Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local 3

Iron Workers, Local 75

Insulators & Asbestos Workers, Local 73

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 627

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 518

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 570

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 640

International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 104

International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 140

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 428

International Union of Painters, Local 86

Laborers International Union of North America, Local 383

Road Sprinkler Fitters, Local Union 669

Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 359

United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Local 135


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AZ BTC News Update  

Pinal County plans $6 million courthouse overhaul
judge hammerSept. 24, 2011
Arizona Republic

Pinal County is set to begin the rehabilitation of what is known as the second Pinal County Courthouse, built in 1891, to preserve it and bring it back into use as a public building.

Early this year, the county Board of Supervisors appropriated $6 million to pay for the project. With the 2010 Census numbers calculated, the county will soon add two more supervisors to its board and needs additional office space.

County spokesman Joe Pyritz said the board considered spending $4 million to construct a new building, but ultimately settled on $6 million to rehabilitate the old courthouse, which had been closed and in need of repair since 2005. Bids for the rehabilitation and renovation project will be taken this month and construction is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

 Click here to read more 

Sol purpose: Work heats up at Dateland-area solar plant
Sept. 24, 2011Aqua Caliente Solar Project
Yuma Sun

Most residents traveling through Dateland on Interstate 8 never realize they are passing by one of the potentially largest solar plants in North America.

The Agua Caliente Solar Project resides unassumingly on 2,400 acres of erstwhile farmland 10 miles north of Dateland and is owned by NRG Energy, a Princeton, N.J.-based company. First Solar, a leading manufacturer in photovoltaic solar panels, provides the engineering, procurement and construction.

When completed, the plant will produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 100,000 homes and will replace approximately 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking about 40,000 cars off the road, according to First Solar.
Saint-Gobain Solar Invests in New Plant, the Company's First in U.S.
Sept. 20, 2011Saint Gobain logo
PR Newswire

New manufacturing facility in Goodyear, Arizona, highlights Saint-Gobain's commitment to innovation in renewable energies, solar technology

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Saint-Gobain announced today that construction work on Saint-Gobain Solar's mirror line for solar thermal power stations has begun. Located in Goodyear, Ariz., (near Phoenix), the plant will be Saint-Gobain Solar's first manufacturing facility in North America. The facility will supply primarily the domestic market and will eventually produce millions of square feet of solar mirrors for thermal power station technologies (concentration towers, linear Fresnel lenses, etc.).

The new solar mirror line is planned to come on stream in the last quarter of this year and will produce 50 new jobs for the area. This investment complements Saint-Gobain's current solar mirror production base, which includes a parabolic mirrors plant in Portugal and a flat mirrors facility in Germany.
 

Rosemont sues county to speed permit decision
Rosemont CopperSept. 10, 2011
Arizona Daily Star

Rosemont Copper is suing Pima County to speed up a decision on the air-quality permit for its proposed mine.

The lawsuit seeks a federal court order for the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality to decide within 45 days whether to issue the permit. It's one of several permits the Rosemont Mine will need to operate.

The county DEQ proposed on Aug. 30 to issue the air-quality permit for the copper mine slated for the Santa Rita Mountains, about 30 miles southeast of Tucson. However, county officials will take public comments until the end of November and say they have until May 2012 to make a final decision.

The mining company has now sued, charging that under federal laws, the county should have made its permit decision in December 2010 - 30 days after the county declared the company's permit application complete.
Rosemont Copper's permit request denied
Rosemont CopperSept. 29, 2011
KVOA.com

Pima County - Pima County has denied Rosemont Copper's request for an Air Quality permit.

According to press release issued Thursday,"The application was denied because Rosemont failed to provide information that would show it could comply with air quality regulations required by the state of Arizona and the federal Environmental Protection Agency."

The CEO of Rosemont Copper said he is not surprised by the decision.

"Pima county seems to be very anti business friendly to all businesses in the community, this is just another step they are taking it does appear it's partly political," said Rod Pace, who believes the county's action is in response to a lawsuit Rosemont Copper filed against the county September 1st.
Western, utilities commit to Arizona renewable transmission western area power administration logoproject
Sept. 14, 2011
PennEnergy

Lakewood, Colo., September 14, 2011 - Western Area Power Administration's Transmission Infrastructure Program and a group of electricity providers in Arizona committed to build a large-scale transmission project in Arizona's Maricopa and Pinal counties today.

Financed through Western's authority to borrow funds from the U.S. Treasury, the project will increase transmission capacity to deliver renewable energy, primarily solar, to consumers in Arizona, southern Nevada and southern California.

The Electrical District No. 5 - Palo Verde Hub Project will connect a renewable-rich zone south of Phoenix, Ariz., with the Palo Verde market hub, a major electrical trading hub in the western United States.

 Click here to read more 

Glendale hopes bill will halt Tohono O'odham's casino plan
Rep. Franks crafts measure to stop Tohono O'odham   
 

Tohono O'Odham NationSept. 21, 2011
The Arizona Republic 

 

Glendale believes it has gained an edge in its fight against a casino proposed near its sports and entertainment district.

U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, a Republican from Arizona, last week introduced a bill to stop the Tohono O'odham Nation from moving forward on its project at 95th and Northern avenues.

Franks, flanked by state and local lawmakers and tribal representatives, unveiled the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Clarification Act at a news conference Friday.

House Bill 2938 was sent to the Indian Affairs Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee. It would modify a 25-year-old settlement between Congress and the Tohono O'odham and ban most gambling, including bingo, slot machines and blackjack, on any replacement lands in Pinal, Pima, and Maricopa counties that are taken into the reservation system for the tribe.
 

Arizona officials back bill to streamline rules for small hydropower plantsHydropower dam
Sept. 14, 2011
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON - Arizona is "sitting on a hydropower gold mine" but needs the government to streamline regulations to turn that power potential into a reality, a Phoenix lawyer told a congressional subcommittee Wednesday.

Robert Lynch was one of two Arizonans testifying in support of the "Bureau of Reclamation Small-Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011," which they said would help generate clean energy, as well as income to help water districts pay their bills.

The bill is aimed at prompting private-sector development of hydropower plants on federally owned canals and pipelines, said Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Flagstaff, one of the sponsors of the measure. It would exempt small plants - those generating less than 1.5 megawatts - from requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, among other changes.
US Department of Energy backs more solar projects
Sept. 30, 2011Sempra Generation_logo
Energy Efficiency News

Despite the US government's high profile setback with failed solar developer Solyndra, the Department of Energy (DOE) has this week backed two major solar projects, as well as a geothermal, wind and two biomass projects.

The DOE's loan programme has confirmed a $737 million loan guarantee for Tonopah Solar Energy to support its Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Nevada. The 110 MW concentrating solar plant (CSP) will feature the tallest solar tower in the world at 195 m and use molten salt as the heat transfer and storage mechanism.

The facility will generate enough electricity for 43,000 homes and avoid 290,000 metric tons of carbon emissions a year.

Meanwhile, Sempra Generation will receive a $337 million loan guarantee for its solar its Mesquite Solar 1 photovoltaic project in Arizona.

 Click here to read more 

Torres Consulting and Law Group