FEMA says there's "a lot wrong" with contract to aid Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON -- The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says there was "a lot wrong" with a $300 million no-bid contract awarded to a tiny Montana company to aid Puerto Rico.
FEMA Administrator Brock Long tells Congress that the agency only learned about the contract awarded to Whitefish Energy Holdings after it had been signed by the board of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
The head of the troubled utility said Sunday he would seek to cancel the contract, amid scrutiny from multiple federal and congressional investigations.
"No lawyer inside FEMA would ever have agreed to some of the language in that contract," Long said.
According to Long, the U.S. is spending more than $200 million each day on the response to three major hurricanes and huge wildfires.
He told a Senate oversight committee Tuesday the challenge presented by hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria is unprecedented in the history of his agency. Long also noted costs from the recent wildfires in California, which he called the worst devastation he has ever seen.
He thanked the legislators for the $52 billion in emergency relief allocated so far, but said recovering from the recent spate of disasters will be tremendously expensive.
Long said he also needs additional legal authority from Congress to build the power grid in Puerto Rico back better than it was before.