Page Scandal May Be A Smoke Screen; Lobbyists Do Shoddy Work, Accept Billions

Parsons Corp, Pasadena, California

rebuilding Iraq

There is more going on in Washington this week then a sleazy tale of 18 year old pages being hit on my nasty old men.
Parsons Corporation, which has given $22,500 to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, $23,500 to James Oberstar, not to mention $886,000 to members of congress since 2000, has been ordered to halt work in Iraq.

"Authorities have ordered a halt to work at the Baghdad Police College, once hailed as a centerpiece of the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq, after inspectors found widespread damage from faulty plumbing, including human waste dripping from ceilings and seeping into walls.
In a report released Thursday, the special inspector general overseeing the rebuilding program said shoddy workmanship at the college had led to serious health hazards that could hamper U.S. efforts to recruit and train Iraqi police officers. Pasadena-based Parsons Corp. had the $75 million contract to build the school.
Inspectors found wastewater "soaking and filling light fixtures, showers and toilets" and leaching into concrete walls and floors. "We witnessed a light fixture so full of diluted urine and feces that it would not operate," the report said. "

The company has long had political connections, including a political action committee that has donated more than $886,000 to members of Congress since 2000.
Over the past six years, Parsons has given $22,500 to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and $23,500 to James Oberstar, the leading Democrat on the House Transportation Committee. It also has donated generously to several Southland lawmakers.
James Geoffrey, spokesman for Rep. Howard P. ''Buck'' McKeon, who accepted $15,500 over that period from Parsons, said the company has been responsive to auditors.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the company's top local recipient of funds -- accepting $30,000 over the past six years -- issued a statement saying problems with Iraq reconstruction are widespread because of a lack of competitive bidding and oversight.

In a report and testimony released last week before the House Government Reform Committee, Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said the Army Corps and Parsons were equally responsible for the academy problems.
Meanwhile, he added that work on 13 of 14 projects overseen by the company were found to be substandard.
Auditors are expected to arrive in California next week to take a ''detailed look'' at Parsons as well as the San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., for subsequent reports, Mitchell said.

More:

SAN FRANCISCO, March 30 - California's Parsons Corp., one of the most active U.S. companies in Iraq, said on Tuesday it won a contract worth up to $900 million from the U.S. military for security and justice work in Iraq.

The privately-owned engineering and construction company said the latest deal includes the restoration and construction of bases for the Iraqi security forces, police stations, border control stations, fire stations, courthouses and prisons.

The project for two years with three one-year options has a potential value of $900 million and is the second contract the Pentagon has awarded Parsons in a batch of $5 billion worth of heavy construction contracts funded by $18.6 billion appropriated by Congress to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.

Last week the Pentagon awarded a $500 million contract to Parsons for the construction and renovation of public buildings in the war-torn country.

The security and justice contract is the last prime construction deal to be announced in the $5 billion batch.

"We've begun getting people cleared to go to Iraq for this project and are defining what the scope of the work will be," said Erin Kuhlman, a spokeswoman for Parsons.

She said Parsons plans to subcontract the majority of work to Iraqi firms and suppliers and has selected two British companies -- TPS Consult and Pell Frischmann -- to support the engineering and design of justice facilities.

Parsons also is part of a joint venture with Worley Group of Australia performing up to $800 million worth of work to restore Iraq's northern oil infrastructure.

The company also is involved in a $1.8 billion infrastructure deal awarded in January by the U.S. Agency for International Development to engineering company Bechtel, a privately-held company also based in California.

Other lucrative Iraq business includes building military bases as well as a $1.5 billion contract Parsons obtained with the U.S. military for construction and engineering work in Iraq and other hot spots where the military is active.

Bidding for the latest batch of heavy-duty construction contracts was restricted to companies from nations that supported the U.S.-led effort to overthrow former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.