While the Lower Ninth Ward tragically continues to look like a scene from a post-apocalyptic scene in a movie, the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina finds huge contracting corporations working hard to loot the federal treasury. After its shameful failure in responding to the aftermath of the storm, FEMA, the Corps of Engineers, and the rest of the federal government assured concerned Americans that not only would New Orleans be rebuilt, but that such reconstruction would occur in a fiscally accountable and timely manner.

Uncle Sam promised to shield us from the all too common occurrences of cronyism, greed, and mismanagement reminiscent of other recent reconstruction efforts. Sadly, in the same way that CNN showed the gaping holes in the Louisianan levees, so to has there been a breach in the promise to protect our federal coffers from opportunists and corporate shysters.

Immediately following any catastrophic event, it makes sense for the federal government to use no-bid contracts to quickly respond and to move people out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, even months after Katrina and the disastrous evacuation, the federal government squandered billions on sole-source and no-bid contracts that routinely spend money at a rate that would put Imelda Marcos at a Payless shoe store sale to shame.

In September 2005, over 50% of contract dollars were peddled without open competition. In October of that same year, more than 90% of award dollars were sent in similar fashion to noncompetitive contractors. According to an analysis of almost 600 federal audits and investigations, of the $10.6 billion already spent on Katrina contracting more than $7.07 billion has been awarded without open competition. Long after the floodwaters receded towards the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf of Mexico, tax dollars continued to flow as no-bid contracts into the ever-swelling pocketbooks of corporate contracting firms.

Despite hundreds of auditors, federal oversight and management of contracted work has been familiarly absent. Routinely, large contractors divvied up their work to smaller subcontractors, paying the firms actually completing reconstruction projects a small fraction of the award value and pocketing the rest. To only exacerbate the post-emergency waste, subcontractors often relied heavily on even smaller construction and cleanup firms, leading to a pyramid schemes that are only usually seen on late-night infomercials and spam emails. This trickle down system has created haphazard operations, contracting fraud, corruption and waste that accumulates like the heaps of debris littering the streets of the Big Easy’s cityscape.

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At the same time federal authorities documented fraudulent activities and gross overcharges in disposal costs, temporary housing operations, and portable classroom services, those companies responsible were awarded additional big money contract awards. Four of the biggest winners raked in more contract money while news stories and government reports cited them for unscrupulously bilking taxpayer dollars in earlier reconstruction contracts. Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill, and the Fluor Corp. saw their contract awards expand from under $400 million to over $3.4 billion during this last year of reconstruction. Bechtel’s accounting practices were so questionable, that in several instances, government reports indicated that the company had incorrectly claimed almost $50 million for a temporary trailer housing project.

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While we observe the somber anniversary of last year’s storm, it’s vital that we recognize Katrina not as a single event isolated in history, detached like an ever-distant bad dream. Katrina is a lesson for us all – a lesson in preparedness, in community, in responsibility, and in government accountability. Not only is now a chance to rebuild a living, vibrant city and region, it is an ample chance to rebuild a damaged system of complacent, cheek turning government spending and mismanagement.

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