North Dakota contractor Fisher Sand and Gravel’s efforts to build U.S.-Mexico border walls are generating new work, but also lots of new controversy and pushback.

The U.S. Defense Dept Inspector General has agreed to probe the firm's win of its first big federal border wall contract, for $400-million awarded Dec. 2 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Arizona.

The investigation was requested Dec. 4 by the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, linking the award o numerous pitches made to President Donald Trump on Fox News cable channels by firm President Tommy Fisher and questioning the firm's capabilities.

IG在致委员会的一封信中说，它是“评估该审计的方法，并将很快正式宣布审计”。

The company has not responded to ENR, but Tommy Fisher said on Dec. 12 that there would be “nothing to find” in an audit, and that the firm was told it was "the lowest price and the best value," according to an Associated Press report.

同时，联邦和州当局在德克萨斯州里奥格兰德（Rio Grande）沿线的私人土地部分上发布了限制命令，以阻止费舍尔（Fisher）的工作，法律文件宣称该宣称未经授权且未实现。

Committee chairman Rep. Bernie Thompson (D-Miss.) has asked the U.S. Defense Dept. Inspector General’s office to review the Corps award to Fisher to design and build a border structure in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Yuma County, Ariz.

A DOD announcement said the firm will receive $270 million to build 31 miles of wall by the target date of Dec. 30, 2020, with the rest of the contract funds awarded if options are exercised.

Try, Try Again

The federal wall construction contract win is the first for Fisher, despite numerous previous attempts—including its submission of a border wall prototype design in 2017 and successful bid protests and a court challenge earlier this year of other wall contract awards from which it had been barred from bidding.

Thompson said Fisher had not been awarded a construction contract prior to Dec. 2 because its proposals reportedly did not meet the operational requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Nevertheless, President Trump has personally repeatedly urged [the Corps] to award construction contracts” to the firm, he said, adding that U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security officials toured a private border barrier being built by Fisher in New Mexico a week before the Corps award. El Paso, Texas, Border Patrol sector chief Gloria Chavez told reporters that the private wall allowed more effective border enforcement in the area.

But Thompson said administration actions “raise concerns about the possibility of inappropriate influence on contracting decisions.”

He asked the IG to review Fisher’s bid to ensure it met solicitation standards and that the award was made in line with federal procurement law and regulations. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), whose district includes Cabeza Prieta, supports a review of the contract, saying “it’s being facilitated by shady handouts and blatant corruption.”

军团在一份声明中说，它遵守联邦法规颁发合同。

“Companies are awarded contracts when they are determined to provide the best value to the government for the particular procurement action undertaken,” the agency said. “It is not uncommon for companies that submit offers on government contracts over a period of time to provide both unsuccessful and successful offers.”A Corps spokesman said it has not received any bid protests of the award.

Fisher did not respond to an ENR inquiry related to the award, but in a statement, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who media reports say received a $10,000 campaign donation from Tommy Fisher, said in a statement, “I know they will do very well, performing high quality work at a good bargain.” He told the Washington Post that the firm submitted “an acceptable design with the low bid.”

Sen. John Hoeven, (R-N.D.), said on his Senate website that Fisher "has the right experience to build the wall on the southern border.”

Related to Fisher’s private wall building, a state court in Hidalgo County, Texas, on Dec. 3 issued the temporary halt to its project near Mission, Texas, following a complaint filed by the North American Butterfly Association/National Butterfly Center, which claims flood risks from the 3.5-mile structure to its immediately adjacent property.

GoFundMe

投诉说，我们建造了私人墙，这是一个激进组织，该组织通过GoFundMe页面筹集了2500万美元，“为了帮助特朗普总统为建造边界墙的建造……没有政府批准或监督。”

州法官基诺·瓦斯克斯（Keno Vasquez）在授予限制令时说：“被告已故意，恶意和主观意图对原告造成巨大伤害。”

蝴蝶保护区的投诉说，被告“声称他们可以单枪匹马地建造比政府更快的边界墙，而且价格仅为一小部分。他们没有提及……[是]，因为他们没有对计划的批准，遵守有关建筑的任何法律，也没有进行研究以确保他们不会造成比弊大于利。”

The center says excavation and construction adjacent to its property will cause surface water diversion onto its property, changing erosion patterns that could destroy portions of land.

蝴蝶中心律师说：“他们可以在私有财产上做自己想做的事，但他们无法做的就是损害别人。”

Federal Injunction

The U.S. Justice Dept. also filed a complaint to stop unauthorized land clearing and construction by Fisher and We Build the Wall along the Rio Grande because the work lacked a permit required by international treaty from the International Boundary and Water Commission.

The federal temporary restraining order, issued Dec. 5, prohibits Fisher from “constructing a bollard structure, wall or similar structure, pouring concrete or any other permanent structure within the floodplain of the Rio Grande or shaving or cutting of the bank” until it complies with international treaty rules.

地球正义已要求军团立即调查该项目明显缺乏联邦清洁水法案允许的允许。

费舍尔家族公司费舍尔工业公司确实向委员会提交了两份文件由费舍尔（Fisher）进行，或者我们建造墙壁。”

The complaint also noted “scant detail about the planned work on the bank of the Rio Grande.”

Fisher began clear-cutting a 120-ft-wide swath along the Rio Grande and has completely cleared almost the entire riverbank without a permit, Justice said.

费舍尔还没有进一步回应投诉，也没有回报有关他们的询问。新利18备用

News reports confirmed that construction has continued after both orders were issued.

“We are getting it built,” Brian Kolfage, founder of We Build the Wall, said on the day of the state-issued halt. He posted a video depicting a burly hard hat-wearing field manager named “Foreman Mike,” who explains how Fisher subcontractor Stinger Bridge & Iron would begin placing bollard panels within 48 hours and would complete the wall by Jan. 15. “We have to supercharge it now,” he said. His role with project participants could not be confirmed.

The Hidalgo County sheriff’s office said it was told by the builders that construction was not going to stop, according to U.K. publication The Guardian, which documented on Dec. 6 that work was continuing.

警长办公室的发言人不会确认该报告向ENR确认。新利18备用