Straightening out the mess

Following the revelations of phantom Congressional Districts receiving federal stimulus dollars, the Administration and the Recovery.gov team have rushed to correct the glaring errors. Today's Foster's Daily Democrat provides some background on New Hampshire's 4th, 6th, and 22nd Districts:

The errors also explain why Recovery.gov listed New Hampshire as having congressional districts "4" and "27." In both cases, there was a mix-up between the location of the actual work and the home state of the company doing it.

In the case of district "4," the contractor is Keene-based Environmental Alternatives Inc., a subcontractor of CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company, which was directly contracted by the Department of Energy for nuclear material stabilization and disposition in Richland, Wash. The report should have indicated Washington State's 4th Congressional District, Fitch said.

Recovery.gov listed the project as saving or creating no jobs but receiving $1,033,809.

In the case of district "27," the contractor is Litchfield-based Big Land Properties, LLC, which was directly contracted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Section 8 housing assistance at 1490 Meadows Apartments in Albany, N.Y., in the state's 27th Congressional District, Fitch said.

The website had the project saving or creating 2 jobs and receiving $124,774.

There was another error, but this time the work reported being done in New Hampshire's "6th" district actually happened in the Granite State. The project contractor, Metcalf & Eddy of Wakefield, Mass., incorrectly listed the project happening in the district where the company is located in the Bay State. The report should indicate New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District as the company was contracted by the Environmental Protection Agency to perform remediation using in-site chemical oxidation services at the Ottati & Goss site in Kingston.