Navy sewage flowed to (San Diego) bay since '04

[MindPilot]

Huge spill started when barracks built
By Steve Liewer and Mike Lee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
November 18, 2006

More than 10 million gallons of raw sewage flowed into San Diego Bay over the past two years from an award-winning military barracks because of an improperly connected pipe, Navy officials said yesterday.

(snip)

The mistake, which was fixed yesterday morning, apparently occurred during the construction of Palmer Hall. The privately built, 12-story barracks opened in 2004 on the San Diego Naval Base at 32nd Street, said Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest. It is home to more than 1,000 single sailors assigned to the base.

Brown said workers hired by the San Diego-based building contractor Soltek Pacific connected a pipe carrying about 75 percent of the outflow from the barracks' toilets, sinks and showers to an unused storm drain that flows into Chollas Creek and then into the bay. The pipe should have been hooked to a sewage line running to a treatment plant.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061118-9999-7m18sewage.html

Who paid off who to overlook that "mistake"?

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. That's what you get

when you use cheap labor.

[Joanie Baloney]

5. Cheap Labor?

Not quite sure what you mean by that.

Soltek also received a Merit Award for "Excellence in Building Construction for Public Work", for their P-254 Bachelor Enlisted Quarters - Palmer Hall, Naval Station San Diego project. The Palmer Hall project involved the design and construction of a $37.2 million, twelve-story living quarters, which created additional housing for over 1,000 bachelor enlisted personnel. The building was dedicated to the memory of SN Lakiba Nicole Palmer, killed aboard the USS Cole, October 12, 2000.

http://www.soltekpacific.com/press/Soltek+Pacific+Earns+Two+AGC+Build+San+Diego+Awards-4.html

Unless you were jumping to the conclusion that San Diego -> Border City -> Mexican immigrants -> cheap labor

Either way, the end result is not cheap and very sad.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Yes, that was my implied conclusion

doesn't the military privatize a lot of these projects now a days?

Just because they gave themselves some award, doesn't mean that the project was done right.

[Joanie Baloney]

7. Umm...

Soltek didn't give themselves an award - the AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) did.

Nobody is saying there wasn't a huge mistake, but "cheap labor" was not the cause.

[MindPilot]

10. Outside contractors are not exactly cheap

If they wanted "cheap labor" they would've had the sailors do it. Can't get labor much cheaper than enlisted personnel.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. That's not why the Republicans love privitization

it's not because it's cheaper. It's because they can pull more money out of the system and give it to their friends, with no accountablity or oversight.

Look at KBR in Iraq. They charge a fortune for everything and the troops have to beg for supplies from people back home. In the meantime, these are services that the military use to provide for themselves at a much lower cost.

[Ezlivin]

2. Brown water sailors

Whatever the hell happened to the Seabees? They would have built it right.

[MADem]

8. Well, they still work, but their purview is principally operational assets

The runway, the pier, the bridge, that sort of thing. There aren't enough of them to accomplish all of the PW projects that USN has around the world.

With the new shore berthing standards (no more of those crowded barracks rooms of yore; they're actually quite civilized nowadays) it's really cheaper to hire private firms to do the work. And then, if they screw up, you can hold their feet to the fire and make them fix it.

[MindPilot]

9. The Seabees were the ones who found the problem and fixed it

albeit "accidentally".

[Benhurst]

3. How can you remain The World's Only Superpower if you

don't do things on the cheap?

BushAmericans are used to being shit on.

[Joanie Baloney]

4. Wrong post referenced

deleted