San Francisco—The contractor that has worked for the U.S. Navy to clean the Hunters Point Shipyard and prepare it for redevelopment reacted strongly today to claims that its work is faulty and offered to hire and pay for an independent third-party consultant to retest its work to provide assurances to the Navy and community that the cleanup was properly done and conforms to Navy standards.
In a letter to U.S. Navy representative Ms. Laura Duchnak, Director, Navy BRAC PMO West, dated April 24, Tetra Tech CEO Dan L. Batrack wrote:
“Until now, Tetra Tech and its subsidiary Tetra Tech EC have respected the Navy’s protocol and have not commented on media or public inquiries but instead have referred them to the Navy for response. However, in light of the barrage of recent negative and misleading media reports, Tetra Tech is compelled to defend itself and its work at Hunters Point.
“Our company has sought to follow all the required standards and protocols and to operate in a thorough, honest, and professional manner to provide testing and cleanup services as required by our contract. We are proud of our high standards and professionalism on this contract and all the work we perform for clients. Equally important, we have worked to make this site, and all sites where Tetra Tech works, safe for community members and residents.
“We want the Hunters Point community and the Navy to know that Tetra Tech stands by its work at Hunters Point. While there has been wild speculation regarding the data collected at the site, we believe that any concerns can be directly addressed by actually re-testing and analyzing the areas in question.”
To assure the Navy and community of the quality and appropriateness of its work, Tetra Tech has offered to pay for an independent, third-party contractor to validate its work so as to demonstrate it was performed properly and to the Navy’s specifications, and also clear up the concerns that the transportation and disposal of soils from the site was done properly and safely to Navy standards.
Tetra Tech said it is “…fully confident that a fact-based, scientific, and independent analysis will prove the claims against us are false. We believe the results of the re-testing will demonstrate the validity and accuracy of our work, dispel the many misleading claims that have been made, and restore public confidence in the site cleanup process.”
The company said the re-testing process should be transparent to ensure credibility and trust is created. Thus, Tetra Tech recommends in its offer to the Navy that other observers oversee the independent re-testing process.
Batrack concludes in the company’s offer letter to the Navy that “we are proud of Tetra Tech’s professionalism, stand by the quality of our work, and are committed to ensuring the safety of the Hunters Point community. We believe our offer will help re-establish the credibility of our work, and allow the community to see firsthand the data and results of an impartial, transparent re-testing program.”
Tetra Tech has received numerous awards for its work. Among those awards are 31 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards for its projects; 19 Secretary of the Navy Energy Awards for its Navy projects; and 7 Presidential Energy Awards for Leadership in Federal Energy Management. In 2018 the Los Angeles District of the Small Business Administration awarded Tetra Tech the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence for mentoring and subcontracting small businesses in federal procurement. In 2016 the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) selected Tetra Tech as the recipient of its SAME Large Business Award. In 2012 the company received the American Council of Engineering Companies’ highest award—The Grand Conceptor—for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal – Lake Borgne Surge Barrier in New Orleans. The National Safety Council awarded Dan Batrack its 2012 “CEOs Who Get It” award for the firm’s companywide safety excellence. Since 2008 the Environmental Business Journal has given Tetra Tech several awards in its Large Business category for achievement in growth and acquisitions.
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