As of Thursday, September 22, evacuees had moved into 1,575 trailers and other housing units in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties. Another 1,791 units have been staged and are ready for occupancy, while 3,474 more units are in place and being readied for families to move in.
Ike Richardson, BNI's project manager, said, "Our Katrina Recovery Team is working hand-in-hand with FEMA and state and local officials to identify sites and put housing units in place. Bechtel's staff and our local Mississippi subcontractors are working seven days a week to move families in as fast as we can."
The work managed by BNI is currently employing roughly 700 people from Mississippi and other Gulf states, in addition to over 200 Bechtel employees working in the region. BNI plans to continue using as many local suppliers and contractors as possible on this project. The BNI project team is currently working from offices in Jackson and is establishing additional field offices in the affected areas.
BNI encourages local contractors and suppliers to register at the Bechtel supplier/contractor site at http://supplier.bechtel.com . There they will find a list of some of the equipment the company may need, and instructions on how to complete registration in the corporate database. Individuals seeking employment with Bechtel should express their interest through the company's Web site at http://www.bechtel.com/careers/ .
BNI has been working in Mississippi since early September under an interim agreement with FEMA while the scope of work, contract value, and terms are formalized. Bechtel was selected to perform this work based on the company's extensive experience in emergency response and restoration work, including rescue and recovery at the World Trade Center in New York after 9/11, building Kosovar refugee camps in Albania, cleanup of Three Mile Island, extinguishing oil fires in Kuwait, and performing safety assessments after major earthquakes in San Francisco, Taiwan, and Turkey.
About Bechtel
Bechtel is a global engineering, construction, and project management company with more than a century of experience managing complex projects in challenging locations. The privately owned company has 40,000 employees working in 50 countries.
Since 1898, Bechtel has completed 22,000 projects in 140 nations on all seven continents. Notable accomplishments include Hoover Dam, The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit, Hong Kong Airport Core Programme, The English Channel Tunnel, the Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, the Athens Metro, the Jeddah and Riyadh International Airports, Croatia Motorway, Three- Mile Island nuclear cleanup, build out of wireless networks for AT&T and Cingular wireless, and many others.
Hurricane Katrina: Bechtel's Emergency Relief Work For FEMA
Accomplishments (as of Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005)
* Displaced families have moved into 1,575 units in Hancock, Harrison,
and Jackson Counties
* Another 1,791 units are staged and ready for occupancy
* Another 3,474 units are staged and being readied for occupancy
* Bechtel has identified possible sites for 4,000 mobile housing
units.
Contracting and Employment
* To date, our work is employing roughly 700 people from Mississippi
and other Gulf states to support our disaster relief efforts, in
addition to over 150 Bechtel employees working in the region. We
plan to continue to use as many local suppliers and contractors as
possible on this project. We encourage local contractors and
suppliers to register at the Bechtel supplier/contractor site at
http://supplier.bechtel.com . There they will find a list of some of
the equipment we may need, and instructions on how to complete
registration in our database.
* Individuals seeking employment with Bechtel should express their
interest should contact
http://www.bechtel.com/careers/ .
Bechtel's Assignment
Bechtel is one of five companies FEMA selected to site and set up temporary housing for displaced families. Our work is primarily in three coastal Mississippi counties: Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson. Bechtel has been working in Mississippi since early September under an interim agreement with FEMA while the scope of work, contract value, and terms are formalized. We are identifying local resources, including available rental units, vacant housing complexes, and open space that can be used to build group sites. We are also meeting with local officials regarding housing options and researching local codes associated with building and land use.
Contributions
* Between August 29 and September 8, FEMA assigned a series of tasks
to Bechtel for urgent humanitarian relief work. Bechtel will
contribute profits from that initial work for the benefit of victims
of this natural disaster.
* In addition, Bechtel and our employees have made nearly $1.3 million
in contributions to the American Red Cross.
Disaster Recovery Experience
Bechtel was selected to perform this work based on our extensive experience in emergency response and restoration work, including rescue and recovery at the World Trade Center in New York after 9/11, building Kosovar refugee camps in Albania, cleanup of Three Mile Island, extinguishing oil fires in Kuwait, and safety assessments after major earthquakes in San Francisco, Taiwan, and Turkey.
CONTACT: Michael Kidder of Bechtel National, Inc., +1-240-379-3261, or
cell, +1-415-990-2612, or
Email Contact
Web site: http://www.bechtel.com/
