Christie Administration Addresses AshBrit Contract

The Christie Administration released the following statement regarding AshBrit’s contract with the State for the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy:

Taking  Emergency and Long-Term Action To Assist Debris Removal

Competitively  Bid Emergency Contract With AshBritt Allowed New Jersey Towns To Take  Immediate Action In Addressing Debris Removal In An Efficient And Responsible  Manner

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AshBritt  Had Extensive Experience And Unique Capabilities To Respond To Major  Disasters:

AshBritt  is a national, rapid-response natural disaster recovery company well tested  in marshaling extensive resources quickly to remove massive amounts of debris  from communities that have been impacted by natural disaster. AshBritt is  currently overseeing and coordinating 83 subcontractors in New Jersey for  cleanup work – 71 percent (59) of which are all New Jersey companies.

AshBritt’s  experience includes recovery efforts from 30 federally declared major  disasters across eleven states since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, including:

• Removing over 21 million cubic yards of debris  along the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina;
• Responding to the 2011 Snowstorms in  Massachusetts & Connecticut which left up to 27 inches of snow, downing  trees and power lines;
• Serving as a primary contractor in Texas  following Hurricanes Ike & Dolly; and
• In Florida, AshBritt has worked on the recovery  efforts following Hurricanes Andrew, Ivan, Charley and Wilma.

Ashbritt’s  Contract Was Competitively Bid:

AshBritt  was retained by the State of New Jersey on October 31, 2013, via an existing  competitively bid contract in Connecticut.  It  was made available as one option among others for municipalities — many of  which chose other available contractors, chose to use municipal resources, or  both.

Having  AshBritt allowed New Jersey to make available as an option a previously  procured, competitively bid contract for disaster management and debris  removal services in the immediate aftermath  of the storm.

• The underlying Connecticut contract was  competitively bid on February 25, 2008,  and AshBritt was awarded the primary contract on June 30, 2008.
• AshBritt was selected from among 10 bidders,  which included 3 out of the 4 US Army Corp of Engineers contractors, by an  interagency evaluation committee consisting of representatives from the  departments of
  • Administrative  Services,
  • Environmental  Protection,
  • Transportation,
  • Public  Safety, and
  • Emergency  Management and Homeland Security.
• The AshBritt contract in New Jersey was intended as and served as an intermediate  step, providing a short-term option until an RFP could be completed, which  was promptly done in the aftermath of the storm.

New  Jersey’s emergency debris removal contract with AshBritt was not a $100  million contract.  Rather, that was the theoretical ceiling on the  2011 Connecticut contract adopted by New Jersey.

The  Christie Administration has Moved to Follow Its Own Objective Bidding Process  to Provide Other Competitively Bid Debris Removal Contractors Now and Into  the Future:

• A Request for Quotations was issued by Treasury  on November 30, 2012 for Disaster Debris Removal and Management  Services.
• Of 10 Responding companies, 7 were deemed responsive  to the RFQ.
• Four vendors ultimately  were awarded those contracts on January 25, 2013, following an impartial and  objective review by a panel in the Treasury Department’s Division of Purchase  and Property.
  • The four  firms are: AshBritt, Ceres Environmental Services, Crowder Gulf, and T.F.R.  Enterprises.

Throughout,  the Christie Administration has Provided Municipalities with Resources and  Options to Protect Taxpayers Through Auditing and Oversight:

New  Jersey also selected contractors available to municipalities to use for  debris removal contract monitoring – a requirement for FEMA  reimbursement.

• Those firms include two hired under emergency  circumstances in the immediate aftermath of the storm to provide monitoring  services for emergency debris removal in accordance with FEMA specifications:
  • Arcadis U.S. of Fair Lawn,  and
  • Scientific Applications International  Corporation (SAIC) of Maitland, Fla.
• The state subsequently expanded existing  contracts with two additional firms to provide more choices for disaster  debris removal monitoring services:
  • Louis Berger Group, of Morristown, and
  • O’Brien’s Response  Management of Plainsboro.

As  a result, municipalities around the state can choose any one of these four  firms, or any other contract of their choosing, to provide them with the  monitoring services that FEMA requires.