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US: Paving companies accused of monopoly

By  |  October 16, 2016

In a lawsuit that could affect every single taxpayer and driver in our state, the Department of Transportation and the Division of Highways announced Friday that they are suing several asphalt producing companies. They claim those companies colluded together to form a monopoly so they could drive up asphalt prices.

The antitrust lawsuit alleges the defendants have gained control of 15 asphalt plants that used to compete against each other.

State Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox that he’s been concerned about a lack of competition for paving jobs for quite a while. One of the defendants, West Virginia Paving denies the allegations. They’re calling them, “factual misrepresentations” and describes the specific allegation of driving up prices by 40 percent “blatantly false.”

Full Content: 5 News

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