NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- New Orleans-area contractors have won 90 percent of levee-repair contracts awarded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
The corps' Task Force Guardian, in a news release Friday, said $196 million in contracts had been awarded as work continues to have the federal levee system repaired by the start of the 2006 hurricane season on June 1.
Levees were breeched in several locations after Katrina passed Aug. 29 and flooded large parts of the New Orleans area. The Corps of Engineers said 40 repair contracts have been awarded.
The 90 percent of contracts to New Orleans-area companies have a value of about $181 million and the corps said about $50 million of that has gone to small businesses. Another $26 million has gone to what the release terms "small disadvantaged or historically underutilized businesses."
The corps said it has at least 17 more contracts with a total value of some $215 million to award.
