On September 20, 2005, Rep. Waxman joined with Minority Leader Pelosi and introduced the "Hurricane Katrina Accountability and Clean Contracting Act" (H.R. 3838), stating: "We cannot allow greed, mismanagement, and cronyism to squander billions of taxpayer dollars…"

These calls for reform were rejected. On September 21, 2005, President Bush promised: "We’ll make sure your money is being spent wisely. And we’re going to make sure that the money is spent honestly."

Three years later, countless news and reports like the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform state promises made by the President were broken. Instead waste, fraud, and abuse in federal contracting were allowed to flourish. Billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, combined with inadequate contract management and oversight, led to pervasive overcharging and wasteful spending in Katrina-related contracts.

Eleven Companies took advantage of the American Taxpayer and used the Katrina Survivors as pawns placing their lives at risk.

AshBritt, Inc., Phillips & Jordan, Inc., and Environmental Chemical Inc.

These are three companies that specialized in disaster clearing, environmental cleaning, engineering and site management hired after Hurricane Katrina. According to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and several news reports, each company was awarded a $500 million contract, $23 for every cubic yard. Instead of doing the job, AshBritt, Inc., Ceres Environmental Services, Inc., Phillips & Jordan, Inc., and Environmental Chemical Inc., hired others making a major profit.

Here is how it worked, Ashbritt company was paid $23 per cubic yard in turn hired C&B Enterprises, which was paid $9 per cubic yard. That company hired Amlee Transportation, which was paid $8 per cubic yard. Amlee hired Chris Hessler Inc, which received $7 per cubic yard. Hessler, in turn, hired Les Nirdlinger, a debris hauler from New Jersey, who was paid $3 per cubic yard. MSNBC report discovered, in most cases the subcontractors were not licensed to do this type of work, and this put the lives of the Katrina survivors at risk.

Bechtel Corporation

Well-connected companies such as Bechtel National Inc. have won millions of dollars in contracts – without bidding for them, as is usually the case with traditional government projects – and raising questions about the company's ties to the Republican Party. Bechtel is among a number of companies that provided emergency housing to storm-ravaged victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as part of a $100 million project.

Carnival Cruise Lines

A $236 million cruise? That's what the U.S. government paid Carnival Cruise Lines to secure three cruise ships – which ended up more than half empty – as part of a six-month contract to provide temporary housing for Katrina victims. In a hearing, members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called the price exorbitant and say it is one of the most egregious examples of government waste following a lack of planning by FEMA.

Fleetwood Enterprises

Their homes swept away in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of Louisiana and Mississippi residents were suddenly homeless. Within days, the government had a temporary solution: $2.7 billion worth of trailers and mobile homes supplied by companies such as Fleetwood Enterprises to house more than 300,000 Katrina victims. There was only one huge problem: The components used in the manufacturing of those homes had toxic levels of formaldehyde – an industrial chemical that is linked to leukemia, asthma and respiratory problems – with limited government guidelines. It was a public health catastrophe, with many of the victims' children who could potentially face life-long health problems.

Fluor Corporation

Iraq and New Orleans are thousands of miles apart, but they share at least one thing in common: Some of the same contractors who received no-bid contracts in Iraq also received no-contract bid work in Louisiana. Such is the case with engineering firm Fluor Corporation. It received $8.5 billion for work in Iraq from 1990 to 2002, despite complaints of overcharging and price gouging. With extensive political and government ties, Fluor was among four companies that worked on a $3 billion, no-bid contract.

Gulf Stream Coach

Gulf Stream Coach snagged a $522 million contract – the largest contract FEMA awarded -- to build 50,000 trailers for displaced Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims. Along with it, say lawyers for plaintiffs' attorneys came unsafe formaldehyde levels that Gulf Stream knew about.

Jim Shea, chairman of Gulf Stream Coach, which built 50,000 trailers for the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed that fact, when he testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

According to Shea's testimony, internal report found formaldehyde in some units exceeded a federal health standard by as much as 45 times in 2006. His company decided that its results were "irrelevant information" because FEMA already knew about high formaldehyde levels.

KBR Corporation

KBR Inc. was supposed to repair hurricane damaged Naval sites along the Gulf Coast as part of a $500 million disaster recovery contract. But a Defense Department's investigative report, the work was shoddy.
Besides to the substandard work, according to the report, Halliburton had an illegal contract, overcharged millions in excessive equipment costs by nearly three times the appropriate amount, and charged the government twice for some of the work.

Among the inspector general's findings:

• KBR awarded sole-source or limited competition subcontracts that overpaid hourly rates to roofers and paid $4.1 million worth of services and meals that should have cost only $1.7 million
• The Navy entered into an illegal "cost-plus-percentage-of-cost" contract with KBR, the audit found. As a result, a higher cost meant higher profit and KBR was rewarded for "inefficiency and non-economical performance."
• KBR was paid nearly all of the contract amounts despite "marginal-to-average performance," the audit found.

Morgan Building and Spa

Morgan Buildings & Spas is among 13 contracts awarded after Hurricane Katrina that were investigated for wasting millions of dollars, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office.

Federal auditors investigated the contracts because many of them were awarded with little or no competition, and to companies who have donated to the GOP or have close ties to the Bush Administration. Morgan manufactures modular buildings over.

Shaw Consulting

Shaw Consulting is another company on KIN's Dirty Dozen list that connects with the Bush Administration pays off big. The company from won housing and engineering contracts valued at more than $200 million as part of no-bid federal work for Hurricane Katrina.

Here is the company's connection, according to the New York Times. Joe Allbaugh, a former Bush-Cheney national campaign manager who served as FEMA director from 2001 to2003, is paid lobbyist for the Shaw Consulting. Mr. Allbaugh's other clients has Bush administration ties Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

Information on companies based on research by Taxpayers for Common Sense http://www.taxpayer.net/budget/katrinaspending/contracts and the United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform - Minority Staff Special Investigations Division
Report, Waste, Fraud, And Abuse in Hurricane Katrina Contracts available at http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20060824110705-30132.pdf