Birdsall Files for Bankruptcy Protection; No Word on Fate of Woodbridge Projects

Just days after its executives were arrested for election donation fraud and its bank accounts frozen, Birdsall Engineering threw its own curveball. Friday afternoon, the engineering and consulting firm hired by Woodbridge and other municipalities throughout the state, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company was unable to pay its 350 employees this week because it didn't have access to bank accounts frozen after the arrest of seven current and former officials of the Eatontown firmed, according to an app.com report.

The Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to reorganize and survive the court-ordered onslaughts of recent days. "This will better allow us to reorganize our company, handle our payroll and operational budget and continue to provide engineering services consistent with our tradition of professional excellence,’’ said Birdsall president and CEO Ralph Orlando in a prepared statement. 

The decision to move for bankruptcy protection was taken because company executives and the NJ Attorney General's Office couldn't come to terms on allowing the company to keep operating, nj.com said in a report. 

Prosecutors seized $41.6 million in assets, including $5.4 million in cash, the nj.com story said.

Birdsall was accused of illegally skirting the state's Pay to Play law by getting company employees to donate $300 or less to politicians, so the money wouldn't have to be reported to state's Election Commission. The company would then reimburse the employees through 'bonuses.'

The AG's Office said that in six years ending in 2012, Birdsall illegally disbursed more than $686,000 to politicians of both parties throughout the state.

State officials refuse to say which politicians and campaigns received the illegal donations.

Woodbridge has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Birdsall contracts, including $131,000 in contracts and change orders since the beginning of the year. Recent contracts awarded to Birdsall include the contaminated soil remediation at the Highland Grove Pool in Fords and repairing the Hurricane Sandy-damaged roof on the Woodbridge Community Center.

There's no indication what will happen to the business the company does with the township, or the money Birdsall has received for work not yet performed, in light of the arrests, seizures, and bankruptcy proceedings.

Some municipalities have been having second thoughts about continuing their relationship with Birdsall, nj.com said in their report.

Mayor John McCormac did not return calls for comment.

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