Posted by Tina
Back in January AZ Central reported that two Federal agencies, the Department of Labor and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were investigating subsidiary companies of the Spanish solar company Abengoa. Reports about these investigations have not been made public so far.
Abengoa received $1.4 billion in loan guarantees in 2010 to build a large parabolic trough solar plant near Phoenix, Ariz. In 2011 Abengoa was awarded another $1.2 billion to build a solar plant in the Mojave Desert of California.
Problems at the plant in Arizona arose over nonpayment to sub-contractors and labor questions relating to safety and work eligibility.
Today the Free Beacon reported that former employees have accused the subsidiary companies of illegal and unethical practices:
A solar company backed by billions in stimulus funds routinely violated U.S. immigration law, workplace safety codes, and environmental regulations, replaced American workers with foreigners, and may be on the verge of bankruptcy, former employees tell the Washington Free Beacon.
The loan guarantees were issued through the DOE under Obama’s stimulus program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This is the same type of loan that funded the now defunct Solyndra. These revelations, if true, are very disturbing. Millions of taxpayer dollars are involved in projects involving a foreign company that hires foreign workers. The projects have questionable merit but worse, these “shovel ready jobs” should be going to Americans.
This green energy failure won’t make the border story, or the President’s plan to award green cards to people who have entered the country illegally, any more acceptable to the American people either.