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Hurricane Katrina

Local company will remove storm debris

Phillips & Jordan Inc., which has a Zephyrhills office, is one of four companies chosen for deals worth up to $500-million.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published September 20, 2005

ZEPHYRHILLS - A local construction company has been awarded a contract for debris removal in New Orleans worth up to $500-million.

Phillips & Jordan Inc., headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., with a division office in Zephyrhills, was one of four companies chosen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to tackle the task.

The corps said it expedited the bid process, receiving 22 proposals and awarding four contracts. Selections were based on past performance, technical capability, ability to respond and price.

The contracts require that preference be given to workers and companies based in the storm-hit areas and set recommendations for employing small businesses and those run by veterans and women.

W.T. Phillips, chief executive officer of Phillips & Jordan, said his company has extensive experience in disaster recovery, including work on about a dozen hurricanes and the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attack.

Phillips said his company holds "prepositioned" contracts with the corps for debris removal in more than 20 states.

"From where we sit, there's nothing political about it," he said Monday. "We've earned our position from the standpoint of managing and controlling costs and doing the work on schedule and, for all practical purposes, under budget."

Phillips said his contract to screen debris from the Sept. 11 attack was estimated at $125-million. He billed the government about $65-million, he said.

The current Army corps contracts are worth a maximum of $500-million with the option of another $500-million.

Richard Johnson, with the corps, said the option was put in place in case another storm hits - next season or even this one.

"We had a contract in place when we started this hurricane season, but the capacity that was on that contract was completely insufficient for this event," said Johnson, director of contracting for the corps' Mississippi Valley division.

Both Johnson and Phillips hesitated to set a time line on the work.

Johnson said debris in Louisiana is estimated at 55-million cubic yards, but that figure changes all the time. For reference, 1-million cubic yards of debris would fill about 33,000 large trucks.

Phillips, who employs about 1,100 workers, said this could be the largest-ever contract for his company, depending on how much work it is asked to do.

"This is all in the corps' hands," Phillips said. "As the water goes down - and the debris removal can't be done until the water goes down - no doubt there will be a lot of mud."

Debris could include everything from tree limbs to entire houses. Phillips workers will be in two parishes along Lake Pontchartrain.

Records show Phillips & Jordan, a privately held company, earned about $193-million in revenue last year.

--Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report.

[Last modified September 20, 2005, 04:43:51]