Thread: Army invites companys to bid on border fence work

May 28, 2008, 5:03PM
Army invites companies to bid on border fence work


By SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The government has begun inviting contractors to bid on building sections of the border fence in the communities of Del Rio and Eagle Pass along the border between Texas and Mexico.

Over about the next three weeks, four pre-approved companies will be bidding on up to $187 million of work for the two sections of the total 370 miles of fence and wall planned for the Texas-Mexico border. Bids are due by June 16 for Del Rio and June 19 for Eagle Pass.

The preapproved companies for the work are Environmental Chemical Corp. of Burlingame, Calif.; Kiewit Construction Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas; Weston Solutions of Houston and Tetra Tech Inc. of San Antonio.

The postings follow efforts by a group of border government and business leaders to stop construction of the fence in court. The Texas Border Coalition sued the U.S. government this month and asked for an injunction.

"This signals that the race to accomplish restraints in Congress and the courts is now in full throttle," William Moore, a lobbyist for the Texas Border Coalition, said in a letter to the group.

Details of the fence plans are marked "Sensitive/Secret" on the solicitation posted on a Web site open only to vendors and buyers registered with the Army Corps of Engineers. Vague descriptions of the work are given in the solicitations.

The Corps did not respond to requests for comment or more information on the planned fence routes on which contractors were bidding.

But some of the details on routes that have been under consideration are contained in draft environmental assessments that the Department of Homeland Security had made public on a Web site.

The information has been removed from the site temporarily while the site is under reconstruction, Homeland Security Department spokesman Barry Morrissey said. The routes that are drawn in the draft environmental assessment are not final, he said.

The proposals in the draft environmental assessment included primary fencing in Del Rio between 2.4 miles to 3 miles long. One route is inside a floodplain, another outside. The fencing, patrol and access roads and lights would be part of a 150-foot-corridor that would be kept free of brush and giant reed.

In Eagle Pass, both routes are inside the floodplain. About .5 miles of the fence would actually be a 15- to 18-foot concrete wall. The structures would affect about a 60-foot-wide corridor and also would have a patrol road and lights.

The Homeland Security Department has repeatedly said it has consulted with local officials, considered their input and in some cases adjusted plans to accommodate local needs. But it also considers the Texas Border Coalition's lawsuit an effort by the group to delay the fence construction.

Community officials have previously said those routes would cut through a city golf course, a historic district, a residential area and land slated for development.

Morrissey said final fence routes will be included in an Environmental Stewardship Plan that is being written. The plan is a substitute for other environmental studies required for such projects. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived the law requiring those studies.

All three presidential candidates voted for the 2006 law that mandated building 700 miles of fence along the nearly 2000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

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On the Net: Texas Border Coalition: http://www.texasbordercoalition.org

Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov





http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5806207.html

You know, its really pathetic that we HAVE to build this fence and wall. If it wasn't for the irresponsible actions of Mexico's government, we would probably be fine, but NO!, Mexico has to exploit it's poverty by dumping it at someone else's doorstep. Calderon should be asshamed and EMBARASSED!! It's really childish of Calderon to be irrresponsible about this. Instead of being concerned about the remittances sent to Mexico by all of his countrymen in the US, he should be taking up the rewritting of the Mexcian constitution (if one exists) to address the need for an open economy that would eliminate government owned monopolies like the PEMEX oil organization. Of course Mr. Bush hasn't got one ounce of brain to recognize either of what needs to be told to Calderon or what Mexico should be accomplishing. Our President is as bad as Calderon or worse, probably the latter. In any case, Bush is more stupid than a box of rocks.

I think that Bush is just going along with this fence and wall building, thinking that when the CFR and the Trilateral Commission gets their man Obama in place that all of this construction will be moot. Construction will stop and what is constructed will probably be torn down under Barak 'the obomination' Obama. God help this country. ANY person with their heads in the sand, or are looking the other way are TRAITORS!