The Associated Press Thursday,
May 10, 2007 found at iht.com
NEW ORLEANS: The Army Corps of Engineers, criticized for
how it handled the bidding for post-Hurricane drainage pumps that proved to be
defective, is defending its use of the winning bidder's own language — down
to the typos — in laying out the specifications.
In a letter released by Sen. David Vitter's office Wednesday, the corps'
commander, Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, said it is "an accepted and prudent
procurement practice" to rely on "industry published technical
specifications" — especially for work that must be completed quickly.
Housing and real estate in New Orleans
The May 2, 2007 letter came in response to a request last month from the
Louisiana Republican senator that the corps look into how Moving Water
Industries Corp. got the $32 million (€23.66 million) contract to install 34
drainage pumps at New Orleans canals before the start of the 2006 hurricane
season.
Portions of the specifications were taken verbatim from the catalog of MWI,
a Deerfield Beach, Fla., company whose top officials have been major
contributors to the Republican Party. MWI employed former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, President George W. Bush's brother, to market its pumps during the 1980s.
The pumps proved to be defective, putting New Orleans at risk of a second
flooding after Hurricane Katrina and putting housing and real estate in the New
ORleans area at risk. Last year's mild hurricane season, however, spared the
city from having to rely on the pumps.
A May 2006 memo by a corps inspector working on the pump project, provided
to The Associated Press earlier this year, warned that the pumps were faulty
and would not work if needed to remove water during a hurricane.
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
began investigating the contract after the memo surfaced, and the corps is
performing an internal review of how the contract was handled.
The corps and MWI insist the pumps would have worked, but last year's mild
hurricane season never put them to the test. The pumps have been overhauled and
are being reinstalled.
Strock acknowledged in the letter that the corps' specifications were
"very similar" to those marketed by MWI, but said they also were
similar to those of FPI Inc., a rival company that has complained about how the
job was awarded.
Strock said the corps hired two engineering consulting firms, the San
Francisco-based URS Corp. and Metairie-based Linfield, Hunter and Junius Inc.,
to draw up the specifications. Strock said the firms "surveyed
manufacturers around the world and narrowed the viable alternative
specifications" for hydraulic pumps to those produced by MWI and FPI.
Officials with URS and Linfield, Hunter and Junius did not immediately
return telephone calls seeking comment.
Strock said MWI got the job because corps officials determined it was
"technically strong" and could deliver the pumps faster than FPI and
D&D Machine & Hydraulics, another Florida company that bid on the job.
Strock added that MWI's track record was good and that it put in a less
expensive bid than the second-best proposal.
Strock said MWI was "clearly" the best option. However, if the GAO
or an internal agency review finds that a corps employee or contractor acted
inappropriately, Strock promised to "hold those responsible accountable
for their actions."
The corps withheld about 20 percent of MWI's contract price — including an
incentive of about $5 million to deliver them by June 1, 2006 — until the
flaws have been resolved. But the corps also spent $4.5 million for six
additional MWI pumps for use in troubleshooting the defective ones.
This is not the first time MWI has been questioned about its government
business. An unresolved federal whistleblower billion lawsuit accuses MWI of
fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for
overpriced and unnecessary pumping equipment. The U.S. Justice Department has
joined the suit as a plaintiff.
“There’s so much inventory out there that the buyer can pick and choose,” said Susan Sirles Fidler, a Realtor at Re/Max 10, Oak Lawn. But she cautioned, “The stuff that’s almost free is almost free because it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg to put it back together. It’s not buyer beware as much as buyer be smart.”
