MWH, the design contractor for the planned new Morro Bay-Cayucos wastewater treatment plant, has sent a letter to the project's manager, claiming an article in the October 1 issue of the Slo Coast Journal was "riddled with inaccuracies." The article reported that a government investigation in New Orleans discovered MWH had engaged in a wide range of professional misconduct.
Yet the letter, dated October 5, made no attempt to respond to the long list of charges by the New Orleans Office of Inspector General (OIG) that MWH, among many other things, overbilled the city, made Christmas gifts to city employees overseeing MWH's work, engaged in noncompetitive bidding, and disregarded "truth in negotiation" contract provisions.
Specifically, the letter did not contest OIG's statement that it had recommended the city of New Orleans cancel its $48 million contract with MWH for management of hundreds of projects for the repair and rehabilitation of city-owned buildings, facilities and streets damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. That recommended cancellation was carried out by the city of New Orleans after the OIG investigation concluded there had been misconduct by both MWH and the city.
In short, the letter from Steve Hyland of MWH, who is overseeing the Morro Bay-Cayucos plant design, attacked the article for reporting what the OIG had concluded about MWH's contractual performance in New Orleans without providing any MWH responses to the OIG conclusions.
In fact, the letter said there were a "number of incorrect statements in the article, many of which were previously addressed in a letter to Bruce Keogh - Wastewater Division Manager/City of Morro Bay and Bill Callahan - District Manager Cayucos Sanitary District dated April 5, 2010." But the contents of that previous letter, the existence of which apparently had not been known to the public until now, was not provided in part or whole in the most recent MWH letter. Whether members of the Joint Powers Agreement board, consisting of members of the Morro Bay City Council and the Cayucos Sanitary District board, have been aware of the April 5 MWH letter is not known.
The latest letter said:
"MWH and the City of New Orleans supplied facts and data in response to the OIG report to show that the recovery work contract was awarded to MWH after an open procurement process that involved the management of the City of New Orleans public works and capital projects teams. MWH was able to prove it complied with its contractual commitments and did not violate any of the terms of its contract or result in billings to the City in excess of the amounts supported under the terms of the agreement."
The OIG report said the city of New Orleans and MWH responded to the OIG report's charges, and the OIG rejected all those responses. The latest MWH letter provided no evidence that "MWH was able to prove it complied with its contractual commitments," and the OIG has acknowledged no such proof.
The letter also questioned the report that a New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board member had taken kickbacks from MWH and another contractor. That report came from the New Orleans Times-Picayune which has covered the OIG investigation and findings in detail over the past year. The letter gave no indication it had challenged the Times-Picayune about its reporting of the matter.
Part of the letter's concluding statements said "it is unfortunate that the recent article contains inaccuracies and implied allegations of improper behavior by MWH." The inaccuracies asserted in the letter came from and are the responsibility of the OIG, and the "implied allegations of improper behavior by MWH" were not implied. They were flatly stated and described in detail with evidence by the OIG report.
Requests for the letter can be made to R. Dennis Delzeit, the contract manager for Morro Bay-Cayucos wastewater treatment plant construction project, to whom the letter was sent. Delzeit's email address is delzeit@charter.net and telephone number is 805-441-1863.
