Broomfield, Colo., April 21, 2010 - MWH has learned that the City of New Orleans OIG has issued its final report of the "Review of City of New Orleans Professional Services Contract with MWH Americas, Inc. for Infrastructure Project Management".
We are disappointed to learn that the IG omitted Appendix A of the City's response, which included a response prepared by MWH. The exclusion of the complete response runs contrary to the Office of the Inspector General's mission to ensure accountability and transparency in City government. Such a report, published without the complete response, denies the citizens of New Orleans a complete and accurate record of the IG's review. To summarily dismiss the full response is disrespectful to the people of New Orleans.
We cooperated fully with the IG and provided all the documentation he requested of MWH for his review, attended meetings and made our key staff available for clarification. MWH disagrees with all 14 of the review findings. As we pointed out in our response, the IG review contains numerous inaccurate, unsupported and unfair allegations. Moreover, the final report is based on dated and incorrect information despite the fact that the IG had current and accurate information.
Central to its response from last week was the fact that MWH has complied with its contractual commitments. MWH efforts in support of the City's recovery 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 contract is reasonable and was competitively procured. It is important to note that MWH is a highly qualified partner in the recovery and received the highest-ranking evaluation score over five other proposers in an open process.
In its response, MWH clarified the misperception that MWH has hampered the City's ability to obtain reimbursements for work performed. On the contrary, MWH efforts have already assisted the City in securing approximately $52 million in additional funds, beyond the amounts initially authorized by FEMA, for the City's recovery program. MWH continues to assist the City in pursuing hundreds of millions of additional dollars of FEMA funding.
The MWH response also clarified statements in the draft review regarding expense reimbursements. While the OIG draft review suggests that MWH improperly invoiced the City for $1,309,572 in unspecified or inappropriate expenses, this is simply inaccurate. There was just one exception found, totaling $18.
MWH is proud to have been a part of the greater New Orleans community for more than 30 years, providing engineering, technical and project management services, and is proud to have been a vital part of one of the largest recovery projects ever undertaken.
A full copy of the omitted MWH response can be found at www.cityofno.com.
