http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=83Zapata Engineering1100 Kenilworth Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28204
Phone: (888) 529-7243
Fax: (704) 358-8342
http://www.zapeng.comBackgroundZapata Engineering, a small North Carolina-based firm with about 50 employees, provides engineering services for private and government clients, including civil infrastructure, architecture services, environmental projects, and forensic engineering of failed structures, as well as military and security services. Since 1995, the company has provided services to the U.S. government to investigate and remove unexploded ordnance, including chemical warfare equipment. The company also offers master design plans for military installations and structures under the specifications of the Defense Department's Antiterrorism Construction Standards, including surveillance equipment. Zapata provides resources to local law enforcement and primary responders to react to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or bioterrorism attacks, including equipment such as a modular, transportable decontamination shower system. Zapata's client list includes fellow Iraq contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). Government agencies that have contracted Zapata's services in the past include the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Engineering & Support Center, U.S. Army Reserve Command and the U.S. Navy. Non-Defense clients listed include the U.S. Energy Department, the Veteran's Affairs Department, the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration.
Manuel L. Zapata founded the firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he has made many government and community connections. Zapata was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1940 and immigrated to the United States in 1967. He worked for energy firms such as Piedmont Natural Gas, Exxon and Duke Power. He organized and led a delegation from the North Carolina Ports Authority that traveled to South America on behalf of the North Carolina secretary of commerce, the purpose of which was to attract foreign shippers to North Carolina ports. Among his recognitions, Gov. Jim Hunt appointed Zapata to the North Carolina Entrepreneurial Development Board in 1993; the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce named Zapata the Entrepreneur of the Year of 1996, and he is a recipient of the Spirit of Charlotte Award for entrepreneurship. He has served as board member of the Arts and Science Council, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Crisis Assistance Ministry, Presbyterian Hospital, NovantHealth and Wachovia Bank.
Iraq contractsThe 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.
(snip)UpdatesZapata Engineering was awarded a contract for munitions removal worth up to $1.475 billion over a period of five years, which includes four option years. This is a worldwide contract but most of the work will be performed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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