Under the heading "Windfalls of War" the Center of Public Integrity reveals
this about a NC outfit known as Zapata Engineering:
The Center has learned that Zapata Engineering has a contract worth a
maximum $120 million to provide ordnance and explosives management services
worldwide, including in Iraq. In response to Freedom of Information Act
requests for copies of contracts for Iraq, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
provided the Center a copy of a $3.8 million task order on this contract
for services specifically in Iraq, dated Sept. 30, 2003.
For $3.8 million, Zapata Engineering will provide one year of ordnance and
explosives management services of five Zapata staff members?one liaison
officer and four program managers?who will work for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers' Captured Enemy Ammunitions program in Iraq. The task order
negotiated a salary based on an 84-hour work week for the liaison officer
at a rate of $159.47 per hour, or $696,564.96 for 52 weeks. Each program
officer receives the rate of $119.26 per hour, or $520,927.68 for 52 weeks.
In total, $2.8 million of the $3.8 million task order could be spent just
for the salaries of the five-person team. The task order also breaks down
estimated total costs, including Zapata's profit, at $1,098,650 for the
liaison officer and $2,740,308 for the four program managers.
During the Center's initial six-month investigation, which ended in October
2003, Zapata Engineering did not appear on any of the lists of American
contractors in Iraq provided by several Defense Department agencies.
Further clarification from USACE has revealed that the contract originally
was awarded on August 25, 2000. According to a Defense Department press
release, the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract was
competitively bid and awarded collectively to six firms at a total value of
$200 million, with no single firm permitted to receive more than $60
million through the life of the contract, ending August 2005. In 2003 all
six companies had their individual contract ceilings increased to $120
million. The first $10 million increase was approved by USACE in April
2003, with an additional $50 million later approved by the U.S. Army.
Note that this contract was awarded more than 12 months BEFORE September
11, 2001. No wonder we had to drop a lot of ordinance on Iraq. There was
already a contract to clean it up.
Whether this Zapata Corporation is related to the company of the same name
that was owned by George H.W. Bush to drill for oil in the Carribbean is
not known. It is known, however, that unlike other defense contractors who
have made significant investments in the form of campaign contributions
Zapata Engineering only put up about $500.