Prometheus Methods Tower Services, Inc.
Prometheus Methods Tower Services, Inc., the "company which Nicholas Berg had previously been associated with, ... has been identified by Free Republic as an "enemy of the state", identifying "Michael S. Berg, Teacher, Prometheus Methods Tower Service, Inc., West Chester, PA" as a known "enemy", based on his association with the organization Act Now to Stop War & End Racism Coalition. [1]
However, according to R. Jonathan Tuleya in the May 14, 2004, Philadelphia Daily Local, the "State has no records of Berg's firm."
Spokesman for the state department Brian McDonald said that the "company that specialized in building communications towers never registered with the Pennsylvania Corporation Bureau." After conducting a "search of the bureau's online list of registered businesses, [McDonald] found no matches. ... The same search done by a Daily Local News reporter produced the same results -- several businesses contained the word 'Prometheus' in their names. Only one is located in West Chester, and it is not related to Berg's business." [2]
Although it is not a legal requirement in Pennsylvania for companies to register with the state, "McDonald explained it is usually the first step an owner takes." [3]
Additionally, "Officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service said state and federal laws prohibited their agencies from providing any records they had of Prometheus Methods Tower Services -- even whether the company had ever filed a return." [4]
McDonald reported that "At least one person claims he can confirm Prometheus' existence. ... Jay Shur, who works at the radio station WCHE 1520 AM in West Chester, said on Wednesday he was in the process of hiring Berg to build a communications tower for the station when news of his death came out. ... The station was awaiting approval of plans from both the borough and an environmental agency before construction could begin, according to Shur." Shur also stated that the hypothetical tower was to be built on wetlands (swamp) so no permits to build had yet been applied for or issued. [5]
May 17, 2004: "Nick Berg's name and his tragic story have been all over the national headlines this week - but for many radio folks in PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK and NEW JERSEY, the tower worker who was beheaded in Iraq is more than just a name in the papers.
"Before Berg headed over to Iraq earlier this year, he was up in the air (and down on the ground) at tower sites all over the region, operating as Prometheus Tower Service at sites that included Ingraham Hill in Binghamton (where he installed the new WHWK 98.1 antenna, apparently his last job in the U.S.), WNGZ in Montour Falls, N.Y., the New Jersey Meadowlands and WPLY in Philadelphia, where our friend Mark Humphrey recently used Berg to install a new auxiliary antenna."
