After several months of false starts and setbacks, Jefferson Parish is poised to finalize a team of consultants to reevaluate a landmark 25-year, $160 million garbage-disposal contract awarded last year to the River Birch Landfill in Waggaman. The Parish Council is expected Wednesday to approve hiring Providence Engineering and Environmental Group of Baton Rouge to join an accounting firm...
After several months of false starts and setbacks, Jefferson Parish is poised to finalize a team of consultants to reevaluate a landmark 25-year, $160 million garbage-disposal contract awarded last year to the River Birch Landfill in Waggaman.
The Parish Council is expected Wednesday to approve hiring Providence Engineering and Environmental Group of Baton Rouge to join an accounting firm in analyzing the landfill deal, which requires the parish to shut down its neighboring dump for a quarter century.
Providence would replace MSW Resources Inc. of Texas, a small engineering firm that pulled out of its contract last month after landing a more attractive deal elsewhere.
MSW's departure was the second significant stumbling block in assembling the review team. In April, the council rescinded its initial choice of Joyce Engineering to lead the review after discovering the Virginia firm had done work for Waste Management, which stands to lose its contract to run the parish dump.
Postlethwaite & Netterville, a Baton Rouge accounting firm, is now leading the audit but needs a partner with engineering expertise to examine the more technical aspects of landfill operations.
"This review has taken longer than we might have hoped, but it hasn't been for lack of trying," Council Chairman John Young said. "It is imperative that the engineering and accounting firms we choose don't have any conflicts of interest."
The council unanimously approved the River Birch deal in June 2009 after former Parish President Aaron Broussard's administration estimated the parish would save $19 million to $23 million over the 25-year contract by shutting down its dump and sending trash to the private landfill.
But the deal came under intense scrutiny late last year after revelations that River Birch had a health insurance contract with the wife of Tim Whitmer, Broussard's top aide who played a key role in setting up the lucrative landfill deal, worth at least $6.4 million a year.
Broussard and Whitmer resigned in January amid a sweeping federal criminal investigation of Broussard's administration and Whitmer's private insurance agency, which did business with at least a half-dozen parish contractors.
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents concerning the landfill deal negotiated by former Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson, who resigned in March.
In January, the council decided to hire an outside consultant to evaluate the River Birch contract, which can't take effect until the parish severs Waste Management's contract to run the parish dump. A federal lawsuit on the matter is set for trial in April.
Saying the landfill contract smells rotten, a handful of residents urged the council at last month's meeting to scrap the deal without expending the time and money to review it.
But Young said the council has a "fiduciary responsibility" to assess the potential savings.
"This was presented as a cost-saving measure that could save the parish a tremendous amount of money. We can't just ignore that," Young said. "We need to do our due diligence on this."
The review is expected to be completed in 30 to 60 days, said Marnie Winter, the parish's environmental affairs director.
The council meets at 10 a.m. at the General Government Building, 200 Derbigny St., Gretna.
Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3785.