Gulf Coast contracts still proving difficult to track

Contracts awarded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina remain difficult to track despite efforts to improve transparency.

The Army Corps of Engineers posts weekly summaries of contract awards, including the value of the award and in some cases the level of competition, on its Web site. Awards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, however, are more difficult to find and are traceable mainly through press releases the agency publishes occasionally.

Even databases with contract descriptions are not adequate, said Steven Schooner, a George Washington University professor specializing in procurement law and policy. Actual contracts should be posted to agency Web sites, he said. There's no reason the agreements should be kept from public view, he added.

In the midst of transparency concerns, news organizations have reported multiple dealings that raise questions about contracts let using emergency procurement procedures. Post-Katrina awards have been criticized because they lacked competition, came with exorbitantly high price tags, or went to politically connected companies. For example:

• The Army Corps of Engineers competitively awarded Halliburton Co.'s Kellogg Brown and Root a $15 million contract for water removal services. Vice President Cheney was chief executive of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000.
• FEMA awarded Bechtel Corp. a letter contract -- an agreement to provide services and determine the contract value and duration at a later date -- for temporary housing units.
• The Washington Post reported that FEMA paid $236 million to Carnival Cruise Lines for ships to provide temporary housing, but that the ships have been largely left empty.
• According to Bloomberg, the Homeland Security Department awarded $521 million in temporary housing contracts to Gulf Stream Coach Inc., which has donated about $75,000 to Republican candidates and groups over the last decade.
• USA Today reported that FEMA awarded no-bid contracts to All American Poly for blue tarps ($6.6 million), Alltech Inspection Services for housing inspection services ($22 million), and to G.A. Food Service for prepared meals ($28 million).
• Former FEMA Director James Lee Witt has been winning disaster consulting work for his company, Witt Associates, according to The New York Times.
• Another former FEMA director, Joe Allbaugh, lobbies for the Shaw Group, which has captured more than $35 million in contracts from the Army Corps for roofing and water removal services -- the latter under restricted competition.

Watchdog groups and inspectors general are on the lookout for more examples of possible contracting abuses. The Washington-based nonprofit Project on Government Oversight posts a running list of Hurricane Katrina contracting information on its Web site, as does the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity.

FEMA has taken steps to address some concerns: Last week, acting FEMA Director R. David Paulison told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the agency would re-bid some of the contracts that were awarded on a no-bid basis. FEMA did not return a call seeking more information on the timing of that effort.

In addition, agencies are posting more public announcements about Katrina-related contract opportunities on the government's Web site for solicitation announcements, Fedbizopps.gov. Following the hurricane, public announcements were hard to find and information traveled mostly through word of mouth.