Plot to give balance of wastewater contract to another consultant coincides with introduction of Rep. McKeon's half-a-million-dollar earmark

Is it just a coincidence that these directly related actions were going on at the same time on opposite coasts:

• Barstow's GOP Mayor Lawrence Dale went public with his intention to re-award an important multi-million dollar contract mid-stream by firing HDR, Inc., the consultants retained two years ago to manage state mandated upgrades to Barstow's wastewater treatment facilities, and hiring a firm with no track record at all, MicroMedia Filtration Inc.; and
• GOP Congressman Buck McKeon slipped an additional half-a-million dollar earmark into the Department of Interior's FY 2008 Appropriations Bill designated for the balance of the same contract to upgrade the Barstow wastewater treatment facilities. The funds earmarked by Rep. McKeon would come out of Environmental Protection Agency, State and Tribal Assistance Grants.

You may want to review these additional posts:

• Barstow Mayor Lawrence Dale shotdown in first attempt at scheme to switch wastewater consultants mid-stream
• Rep. McKeon secures $500,000 for Barstow sewer improvement project
• Barstow Council gambles on young wastewater firm