[Vision2020] Post-Katrina Pump Bidding Scrutinized

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (May 1, 2007) Spokesman Review -

"MWI employed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President Bush's brother, to
market its pumps during the 1980s, and top MWI officials have been major
contributors to the Republican Party."

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Post-Katrina pump bidding scrutinized 
Company had GOP connections, delivered defective products
Cain Burdeau 
Associated Press
May 1, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - When the Army Corps of Engineers solicited bids for drainage
pumps for New Orleans, it copied the specifications - typos and all - from
the catalog of the manufacturer that ultimately won the $32 million
contract, a review of documents by the Associated Press found.

The pumps, supplied by Moving Water Industries Corp., of Deerfield Beach,
Fla., and installed at canals before the start of the 2006 hurricane season,
proved to be defective, as the AP reported in March. The matter is under
investigation by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm
of Congress.
 
In a letter dated April 13, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., called on the Corps to
look into how the politically connected company got the post-Hurricane
Katrina contract. MWI employed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President
Bush's brother, to market its pumps during the 1980s, and top MWI officials
have been major contributors to the Republican Party.

While it may not be a violation of federal regulations to adopt a company's
technical specifications, it is frowned on, especially for large jobs like
the MWI contract, because it could give the impression the job was rigged
for the benefit of a certain company, contractors familiar with Corps
practices say.

The Corps' January 2006 call for bids for 34 pumps used the wording on how
the pumps should be built and tested, with minor changes, found in MWI
catalogs.

The specifications were so similar that an erroneous phrase in MWI catalogs
- "the discharge tube and head assembly shall be abrasive resistance steel"
- also appears in the Corps specifications. The phrase should say "abrasion
resistant steel." 

Eugene Pawlik, a Corps spokesman in Washington, said the agency is working
on a response to Vitter's letter.

MWI declined to discuss how it won the contract. GAO would not talk about
its probe.

Richard White, a federal contracting expert, said it is "not unheard for a
spec to be copied, in particular in cases of emergency purchases."

"It's not a good practice, but it's not anything egregious, especially if
the Corps allowed other companies to negotiate to change it," White said.

After Katrina swamped about 80 percent of the city, Congress appropriated
$5.7 billion to rebuild New Orleans' flood protection systems. Vitter and
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., have excoriated the Corps over its workmanship
since Katrina.

In his letter to the commander of the Corps, Vitter said the bid
solicitation for the pumps "includes specifications identical to those
written and marketed by Moving Water Industries."

A May 2006 memo by a Corps inspector, provided to the AP earlier this year,
warned the pumps were faulty.

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.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men." 

- Thomas Paine (English Writer, 1737-1809)

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