Faulty military contract work claimed at port

The structural integrity of a $900 million missile defense system could have been compromised here, U.S. federal court records suggest.

The Missile Defense Agency, however, states that the Sea-Based X-Band Radar or SBX, which was partially built at the Port of Brownsville, does not yet show signs of faulty construction.

A confidential informant, however, told U.S. Department of Homeland Security Senior Special Agent Richard A. Perez in June 2004 that labor lease employees at Keppel AmFELS provided false welding certificates and shoddy work on SBX.

AmFELS officials were not available for comment but have said that the firm cooperated fully with investigators.

SBX is slated to be a key part of the country¡¦s ballistic missile defense system, and it was at the Port of Brownsville from May 2003 through 2005.

Boeing Co. is the prime contractor for the Defense Department¡¦s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program.

SBX is a component of the program. It consists of a sea-based modified oilrig platform which supports radar to track and is supposed to help defend against missile attacks on the United States.

Boeing subcontracted AmFELS to outfit the bare hull of the platform, construct and assemble living quarters, electrical work, networking and mechanical work, AmFELS¡¦ literature states. The contract was worth $73 million.

The confidential informant told Perez that labor lease employees ¡§were falsifying welding certificates, providing substandard workmanship as it relates to the structural integrity of the SBX and that drug use and theft was widespread,¡¨ states Perez¡¦s 2004 affidavit in support of search warrants.

Perez sought documents or contracts relating to the U.S. government, Defense Department, Boeing Co., welding certificates, awards and documents regarding the certification and technical expertise of AmFELS employees.

Questions regarding the work performed here surfaced amid an investigation into allegations that lease labor corporations, including LAMC and CPEP at the Port of Brownsville, were providing AmFELS with undocumented immigrants to work on contracts, including the SBX project.

LAMC and CPEP did business together as Port Fabricators. A review by The Brownsville Herald showed 357th state District Judge Leonel Alejandro recently acted as chairman of both LAMC and CPEP and helped found Port Fabricators. Alejandro has said the corporations have cooperated fully.

Boeing and U. S. Missile Defense Agency spokesmen did not comment on the investigation.

¡§Boeing is not a party to the suit in question, and it is not our practice to comment on pending legal matters, particularly those in which we are not involved,¡¨ Boeing said in a statement.

Regarding SBX¡¦s integrity, Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rich Lehner said, ¡§Boeing and government officials have conducted comprehensive inspections on welds, weld X-rays and weld inspection processes as part of the normal required inspection process for a vessel like the SBX platform.¡¨

Though no discrepancies were found, Lehner said, ¡§The welds will be continuously monitored as part of the routine maintenance and inspection process applied to similar vessels.¡¨

In a statement earlier this month, Boeing said, ¡§At this point, it¡¦s not clear that any undocumented workers worked on the SBX program, therefore to the best of my knowledge, there was no negative impact on the program.¡¨

The federal investigation kicked off when state officials arrested an AmFELS welder in July 2003 for allegedly selling fake documents to an undercover officer.

The welder said he obtained the documents from a man working at AmFELS, according to court documents.

The two lease labor corporations and two former employees were indicted in May in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, and charged in a plot to provide undocumented workers to AmFELS from 2002 through 2004.

During this period, AmFELS paid $30.4 million in labor lease contracts to Port Fabricators, which employed 1,041 lease employees to fulfill AmFELS contract. Of these, 624 provided invalid proof of employment-eligibility, the indictment states.

Boeing stated that AmFELS completed the work on SBX and that to the best of its knowledge, the Defense Department did not take administrative action against Boeing or AmFELS.

¡§Boeing cooperated fully with the DOD investigators,¡¨ according to the statement.

As for Boeing¡¦s continued working relationship with AmFELS, Boeing stated that ¡§there are no plans to utilize¡¨ the company.

SBX is still undergoing testing.

Missile Defense Agency Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III announced in a statement on June 7 that SBX was on its way to Hawaii for scheduled maintenance and system upgrades.

Obering also said there were no plans to turn on the SBX radar while in port.

If it became necessary, ¡§It would be at a very low level and emit considerably less energy than a microwave oven,¡¨ the statement reads.

Missile Defense Agency spokeswoman Pamela Rogers said planned upgrades and repairs ¡§don¡¦t involve structural issues, just routine maintenance.¡¨

Sea-Based X-Band Radar

ƒÞ It combines an advanced X-Band radar mounted aboard an ocean-going, semi-submersible platform that provides the country¡¦s ballistic missile defense system with missile tracking capability to defend against missile attacks on the U.S.

ƒÞ Cost: $900 million

ƒÞ The platform is 238 feet wide and 398 feet long. It measures 282 feet from its submerged keel to the top of the radar dome. The platform is twin hulled and self-propelled.

ƒÞ It is larger than a football field.

ƒÞ The main deck houses living quarters, workspaces, storage, power generation, a bridge and control rooms, while supporting the radar antenna array, command, control and communications suites and an interceptor communication system data terminal.

ƒÞ It is operated by a crew of about 75.

ƒÞ Its home port will be Adak Island in Alaska¡¦s Aleutian Island chain.

ƒÞ The Boeing Co. is the prime contractor. Subcontractor Raytheon manufactured the X-Band radar. The platform was purchased from Moss Maritime and was modified by Boeing and subcontractor Vertex/RSI at Keppel AmFELS in Brownsville from 2003 to 2005. The X-Band radar was installed at Kiewit Offshore Services in Corpus Christi in 2005.

ƒÞ Was dedicated in July 2005.

ƒÞ Involved in sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico in the fall of 2005. Transmitted a radar beam for the first time in September 2005 and tracked several orbiting satellites in October 2005.

ƒÞ Arrived in Hawaii in January 2006 after a 15,000 mile trip from Texas.

ƒÞ Participated in early 2007 in two tests under harsh winter weather conditions in the Northern Pacific.

ƒÞ Was on its way back to Hawaii in June for repairs, upgrades and maintenance.

Sources: Missile Defense Agency, Boeing Co., Congressional Research Service