Army Corps Re-Awards Fire Island Cleanup Project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has revoked its original $8.8 million contract award for post-Sandy debris cleanup on Fire Island and is now giving the contract, which reflects an additional $1.7 million, to a Bay Shore firm.

The move comes after a formal protest from a contract bidder on the initial January 25 contract award. In a press statement released last Friday the Corps stated that a review of the bidding process revealed that selection criteria “weren’t consistently applied to all proposals during the evaluation process.”

The Corps then convened a new panel to review the proposal and re-evaluate the work proposals of the nine bidders.

The original award went to DS3 Enterprises of Central Islip. The revised contract, for $10.5 million, is being awarded to Custom Earth Recycling of Bay Shore.

“Lessons learned from that experience were applied as part of the re-evaluation. The Corps is confident that selection criteria were appropriately applied for this solicitation,” states the release.

The Corps states that cleanup activities will begin by mid-February if no additional challenges are filed to the second contract decision and that there is a 10-day limit that any additional protests to be filed.

“The Corps remains committed to working through this issue to find a solution to clean up the Sandy debris on Fire Island. Staff is involved with this issue from the field up to headquarters,” states the release.

According to the Corps, Custom Earth Recycling will remove debris from right-of-way and from eligible private property, transport it off the island, and dispose of it in a safe and environmentally sound manner. An estimated 2,200 homes sustained some form of damage from October’s Hurricane Sandy.

“This contract award represents another step forward in the cleanup of Fire Island,” said Lt. Col. John Knight, New York Recovery Field Office commander in a statement. “We recognize the debris continues to pose a significant health and safety threat. We are committed to safely removing the debris as quickly as we can.”

Custom Earth Recycling will handle separation and disposal of construction and demolition debris, segregation of “white goods” such as refrigerators and other appliances, disposal of e-waste such as tv’s and computers, disposal of vegetative debris, and sifting eligible sand.