Watchdog Groups Allege Mirky Connections between Bechtel and Gov't

Bechtel Corp. one of the three outside firms who helped plan and design the 160 parking spots, (Its billable hours and payment have not yet been disclosed), has an interesting history procuring profits from the federal government according to the Center for Public Integrity:

"Bechtel's relationships with policymakers and officeholders dates back to the early part of the Twentieth century when Stephen D. Bechtel (shown) partnered with John A. McCone, who went on to become chief of the CIA under President John F. Kennedy and introduced the Bechtels to many influential figures.

In the 1970s, Bechtel hired a slew of government officials to help with its expanding international operations: former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Casper Weinberger (who would leave in 1980 to serve as Reagan's Defense Secretary); Atomic Energy Commission chief executive Robert Hollingsworth; former ambassador to Turkey and Saudi Arabia Parker T. Hart; and John G. Dillon, a retired rear admiral who directed the Pentagon's construction policy."

Among other shenanigans, "Bechtel is also the subject of a review ordered by Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts over its handling of the nation's largest urban transit construction project in Boston. Known as the "Big Dig" for the giant, 10-lane tunnel it aims to install under city streets, the project, contracted to Bechtel and construction firm Parsons Brinkerhoff in 1985, is currently about $1.6 billion over budget."

Bechtel also caught a lot of heat for its lucrative role in cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina. See the Washington Post article about it.

Bechtel was one of 4 large firms with extensive government ties to win a $500 million no-bid contract from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A year later, the Government Accountability Office would show that three of the companies had lost millions in taxpayer money due to poor planning. In all, the 4 firms secured $3 billion from September 2005 to March 2007.

From a 2007 PBS Interview with a New Orleans lawmaker:

(PBS) JEFFREY KAYE: After Katrina, FEMA awarded no-bid trailer contracts to four well-connected companies. FEMA gave the Mississippi contract to the Bechtel Corporation, one of the largest engineering, construction and project management companies in the world.

REP. GENE TAYLOR (D),R Mississippi: They did a crummy job, and they can't tell me otherwise because I'm from here.

JEFFREY KAYE: Democratic Congressman Gene Taylor is building a new house on the property in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where his old home, destroyed by Katrina, once stood. He's been a dogged critic of Bechtel.

REP. GENE TAYLOR: I know the people that were hurt by their lack of actions, and I know how much money they squandered that could have been done a heck of a lot cheaper, and they'll never convince me otherwise.

JEFFREY KAYE: Taylor says FEMA gave Bechtel a cost-plus contract, which pays for expenses and overruns and offers no motivation to minimize costs.

REP. GENE TAYLOR: The more money they spend, the more people they hire, the more needless layers of bureaucracy they put in there, they get paid a profit on top of every expenditure they run up.

Bechtel also played a controversial role rebuilding Iraq, leading to major federal investigations into whether the money it and other firms were awarded were properly spent.

In a 2003 article, CorpWatch alleged that Bechtel Corp and its owner had built a tangled web with the federal government, landing countless million and billion dollar contracts along the way.

'After the company's owner, Riley Bechtel, (son of Stephen) was appointed as the Bush Administration's adviser on how to create markets for American companies overseas, his firm's first contract in Iraq covered virtually all the major projects in the war-torn country including "seaports, two international and three domestic airports, potable water, electric power plants, roads, railroads, schools, hospitals and irrigation systems.'

At the time, CorpWatch's Pratap Chatterjee noted that some lawmakers were pushing for a bill that would force 'the government to explain publicly how contracts have been awarded under a limited bidding process.'

Ron Wyden, a Democratic Senator from Oregon, sponsored the bill."You look at this process, which is secret, limited or closed bidding, and you have to ask yourself: `Why are these companies being picked?' Wyden, told the New York Times.

NY Department of Transportation Speaks

Many thanks to Adam Levine, public affairs officer at the NYDoT, for answering these questions about the $400,000 being spent to 'plan and design' the additional spots before taking off for vacation.

He actually pulled a 24-hour turn around which is pretty amazing considering I'm an unpaid citizen activist blogger.

1.) How many people were involved in planning and designing this lot and over what period of time? What would be the estimated number of hours spent to bill $400k?

Including NYSDOT and consulting engineering staff, 8-9 people worked on the project over a 16-month period, spending a total of about 3000 hours designing the expansion.

As with the cost estimate, I will be glad to share with you the fruits of their labor, in the form of the project plans, once the project has been awarded.

2) Were any outside design/planning firms hired? Who were they?
The consulting firms that assisted us in preparing the design were a joint venture among Bechtel Corp., WSP Sells and URS Corporation. As they are working under the direction of the department, I ask that you direct your questions to me and I will get your answers. One person's muzzling is another person's taking responsibility and standing up for our actions and decisions.

3) What needs to be done to plan and design 160 open-air parking spots?
As each site is unique, we can say that in this case, traffic and environmental issues needed to be analyzed and a design report needed to be prepared summarizing the project analysis. After these were completed, design of the park-and-ride details could be performed.

4) What were some of the obstacles to getting this project through? (You'd mentioned a bird reserve nearby)

I don't recall mentioning birds, but there are wetlands near the project, both existing and recently developed. We also wanted to make sure we stayed within an envelope that would not preclude other uses of nearby land along the Korean War Veterans Parkway, and we also had to make provisions for the temporary retention of storm water on the site, while the existing drainage system was being worked on as part of the expansion.

Eltingville's Existing Construction Project?

When I visited the Eltingville Park and Ride, I was surprised to find that a significant portion of the parking lot was already wrapped with chain link, separating it from a construction site about two football fields large. There were tractors, trucks, large mobile offices, all signs of a project in motion - but no workers. The company doing the work was Beaver Concrete Construction, one of the 7 bidding firms. Also one that is currently ignoring my calls and emails.

I spoke with a few bus drivers hanging out at transit center and none of them knew what was going on it the lot. Or where the additional spots would go.

What is going on is the existing Elingville construction site?

UPDATE from the NY DoT
"The work you see at the site now is associated with a nearby project. While we are replacing a nearby pedestrian bridge, the contractor on that job has been using the site to keep his equipment and materials, what we call a staging area. He will vacate the area in time for the park-and-ride work to begin."

Waiting on the NY Department of Transportation

We're making headway with the bidders but I still can't understand why it costs the state of New York $400,000 to 'plan and design' 160 additional parking spots to a 5 year-old park and ride. And were any outside firms paid to pitch in?

I have been told by one of the bidding firms owners that it is typical for planning and designing to eat up about a tenth of a government project's budget, at least in New York.

I sent the following questions below to NY DOT's press officer on July 28, yesterday. They were essentially the same questions I'd asked weeks ago. I also asked to interview some of the project's planners and he said that would happen, but nothing so far.

Here are the questions we want answered taxpayers:

1.) How many people were involved in planning and designing this lot and over what period of time? What would be the estimated number of hours spent to bill $400k?

2) Were any outside design/planning firms hired? Who were they?

3) What needs to be done to plan and design 160 open-air parking spots?

4) What were some of the obstacles to getting this project through? (You'd mentioned a bird reserve nearby)

We just want to know where the money is going.

July 2 email from NYS Transportation Department

I've spoken with our funding person, and he advises that the construction of the project will be funded entirely through ARRA. The $2.6M noted in the press release and on the website (recovery.ny.gov) includes direct construction costs and construction inspection. The remaining funding was provided by New York State for design of the expanded facility.

I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if there's anything more you need.

Have a great holiday weekend.

- Adam

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Adam S. Levine, P.E., AICP
Director, Public Affairs
NYSDOT Region 11 - New York City