GC waterfront work & roofer pacts

Two DoD contracts affecting Gulf Coast bases' waterfronts; and a Louisiana company is awarded a contract for roofing in San Diego.

* MN-BMCD SE JV, Tampa, Fla., is awarded a maximum-value $60,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, architect-engineering contract for professional architectural and engineering services in support of waterfront projects in the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southeast area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for preparation of professional architectural and engineering services for preparation of design-bid-build documents and design-build requests for proposals for various project types in support of waterfront and marine facilities at Department of Defense (DOD) and non-DOD activities in the NAVFAC Southeast AOR. Future task orders will be primarily funded by Navy operation and maintenance and Navy military construction funds. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations in the NAVFAC Southeast AOR including, but not limited to Florida (30%); Georgia (30%); Andros Island, Bahamas (10%); Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (10%); South Carolina (5%); Louisiana (5%); Mississippi (5%); and Texas (5%), and is expected to be completed by February 2026. An initial task order to conduct a site engineering investigation and concept design workshop for P-021 lighterage wharf and lift-launch pier at Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, Fla., is included with the award and is expected to be completed by April 2021. FY 2021 Navy military construction funds in the amount of $202,780 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with two proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.  

* Chatmon-VJR JV LLC, La Place, La., is awarded a maximum-value $49,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for roofing projects at various military installations in metropolitan San Diego area, including Naval Bases Coronado, Point Loma, San Diego, and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. No task orders are being issued at this time. The work to be performed is for repair, removal and replacement of roofing systems at various military installations in the metro San Diego area. Projects may include, but are not limited to, roofing services with minimal design requirements for new minor construction, facility repair, rehabilitation and alterations for a broad range of renovation and construction work. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operation and maintenance (Navy) funds. Work will be performed in San Diego and is expected to completed by January 2026. FY 2021 Navy operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with seven proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Southwest, San Diego, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD 01/13/21)

EPA: Toxic chem releases down

DALLAS - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its 2019 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis, which shows that releases of TRI chemicals – Region 6 state: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas - decreased by 5.4M pounds from 2018-19, driven by reductions in the chemical manufacturing, electric utilities and petroleum product manufacturing sectors. Total releases decreased by 25.9M pounds or 6 percent from 2018-19 and are down 11 percent since 2007. Five percent of facilities in Region 6 reported implementing new source reduction activities. The national analysis shows Region 6 facilities have continued the trend of decreasing the release of toxic chemicals, according to EPA 6 Administrator Ken McQueen. Nationally, analysis shows companies that manage chemicals continue to make progress in preventing pollution. The report demonstrated that between 2018-19 total releases of TRI chemicals decreased by 9 percent. (Source: EPA 01/13/21) Across the Gulf Coast region, only Louisiana (which has 372 TRI facilities) is in EPA Region 6. TRI facilties in Mississippi (324); Alabama (561); and 672 in Florida – 15 in Escambia and 3 in Santa Rosa both in the Panhandle. Enforcement Annual Results for Fiscal Year 2020 | Enforcement | US EPA

Vertex subs work on Harrier fleet

LONDON - Vertex Aerospace of Madison, Miss., and BAE Systems have signed a nine-year agreement to enhance availability of the Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II fleet, BAE officials said in a media release Jan. 12. The Navy awarded Vertex Aerospace a $123M contracted maintenance, modification, aircrew and related services (CMMARS) task order in July 2020 to provide aircraft maintenance and contractor logistics support services for the Harrier fleet. Vertex selected BAE as a subcontractor, and together, the firms will support training and combat operations conducted from Navy aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and forward operating bases. (Source: Seapower 01/13/21) BAE Systems to Support U.S. AV-8B Harrier II Fleet to 2029 - Seapower (seapowermagazine.org)

COVID may damage blood vessels

COVID-19 symptoms, such as headaches or brain fog that linger beyond recovery, may be caused by damage to the brain's small blood vessels, not nerve cells, according to a study by the Uniformed Services University – the defense department’s only medical school - and the National Institutes of Health. The study, "Microvascular Injury in the Brain of Patients with COVID-19," was published Dec. 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Persistent symptoms lasting beyond recovery from the acute respiratory symptoms have baffled scientists, but until now were believed to be a result of direct damage to nerve cells. (Source: DoD 01/13/21) COVID-19 May Invade, Damage Blood Vessels – Not Nerve Cells > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Defense Department News

CG probing La. maritime accident

NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard is responding to a maritime accident involving a railroad bridge near Slidell, La., on the morning of Jan. 13. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a notification around 1 a.m. stating the inspected towing vessel Robert Cenac reportedly hit the Rigolets RR bridge. The swing bridge, owned by CSX Transportation, is currently stuck in the open position. The waterway is still open to marine traffic. The CG is investigating. For inquiries regarding bridge damage, contact CSX Public Affairs via email, mediateam@csx.com or phone, or toll free at 1-855-955-6397. (Source: Coast Guard 01/13/21)

Hurricane Zeta assistance

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ request for a Major Disaster Declaration due to damage in Louisiana from Hurricane Zeta has been approved by President Trump. This will help provide direct assistance to those people and communities impacted by the storm. Hurricane Zeta made landfall in Lafourche Parish, La., on Oct. 28 as a Category 3 system. In addition, some areas hit by Zeta are also still recovering from Cat4 Hurricane Laura, Cat2 Hurricane Delta, and the ongoing battle against the pandemic. What does that mean for the Plaquemines Parish Government and the residents of Plaquemines Parish?  Individual assistance will be available to residents via an SBA Loan (See attached) at this time.  The SBA has opened up Virtual Recovery Centers starting Jan. 13. (Source: Plaquemines Parish 01/13/21) https://plaqueminesparish.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=215&fbclid=IwAR3yknHgkKzMVJ020c8SjPf9e7fFyRVnlLogCLiURgLGrnIXkpyLgZ2TTPs

MS prepared for potential protests

Mississippi officials are aware of FBI warnings of potentially-armed protests at state capitols across the U.S. and that security in the Magnolia State is ready. “Whether you see us or not, we are there and we are going to protect the integrity of our public buildings here in Mississippi,” Gov. Tate Reeves said on Jan. 12. “… In Mississippi we are prepared and we will be prepared.” Reeves has been meeting with law enforcement, military and emergency management leaders in advance of the potential protests. (Source: Magnolia State Live 01/13/21) Mississippi governor: 'We will be prepared' for threat of armed protests - Magnolia State Live | Magnolia State Live

Charities donate $1.45M to FOCH

For seven consecutive years, Century Club Charities has broken its record in charitable giving, and announcing a $1.45M donation to Friends of Children’s Hospital (FOCH) from proceeds from the 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship. Century Club Charities and the Sanderson Farms presented the check to FOCH, the fund-raising arm that supports the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s pediatric health care mission, including the state’s only children’s hospital. (Source: Magnonlia State Live 01/13/21) Record breaking gift presented to children’s hospital at UMMC in Jackson - Magnolia State Live | Magnolia State Live

Renewed industry interest in GT

Years went by without a single contract from the Tennessee Valley Authority to bring new industry to Lowndes, Oktibbeha or Clay counties in Mississippi’s Golden Triangle. Mississippi Development Authority also wasn't pointing clients to the region for awhile, Golden Triangle (GT) Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins told the Columbus Rotary Club on Jan. 12. In the last few years, “if we weren't making (deals), it wasn't getting made," Higgins said. The region is beginning to see more interest from an array of industries - food and solar power to product distribution companies - even in the face of the ongoing pandemic, he continued. TVA has even renewed its interest. "That's our niche,” Higgins told Rotarians, “that's what we do: Big land, big power, big water, big sewer. We're your first stop." (Source: The Dispatch 01/13/21) Higgins: Renewed TVA interest in area beefing up industrial recruitment - The Dispatch (cdispatch.com)

Army recruits LSU for climate study

The U.S. military has recruited LSU to help prepare coastal military installations for climate change in the coming decades.  LSU was awarded a $9.3M Army grant for a four-year study into how intensifying rainfall, storms and rising seas will affect military infrastructure at hundreds of bases. The collaborative work is between LSU, Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Environmental Laboratory, and the University of Delaware, which received separate funding. A main focus for LSU will be modeling coastal conditions to help guide climate planning at military bases that are deemed at risk from hurricanes and sea level rise. In 2016, a group of retired flag officers released a report concluding that “sea level rise risks to coastal military installations will present serious risks to military readiness, operations and strategy.” 1,700 U.S. military sites sit along nearly 100,000 miles coastline in the U.S. and abroad, according to a report published by the Center for Climate and Security. Of particular domestic concern are Camp Lejeune, N.C., Andrews (Md.) AFB, Norfolk (Va.) Naval Station, and NAS Pensacola,  Fla. LSU study's initial focus will be on Dover and Eglin AFB, Fla. In 2018, Hurricane Michael damaged Eglin and leveled most of Tyndall AFB, Fla. No Louisiana military sites are on the priority list for the LSU study. Among LSU’s assets drawing the Army’s attention was its Center for River Studies’ 10,000-square-foot Lower Mississippi River Physical Model, one of the world’s largest movable river models. LSU’s research has shown coastal flood risk isn’t just linked to weather and rising seas. It’s tied to landscape alterations, including levee construction and wetland loss, both of which have exacerbated flooding challenges along the entire Mississippi River. (Source: NOLA.com 01/13/21) LSU awarded $9.3 million grant to help military plan for climate change | Environment | nola.com

4 ESS for Harvey Gulf fleet

Corvus Energy has received an order from Wärtsilä for four Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for the offshore support vessel fleet operated by Louisiana-based Harvey Gulf International Marine. The orders follow the sea trial of Harvey Energy, the first-ever LNG-battery hybrid retrofit of a platform supply vessel (PSV) in the Americas. Harvey Gulf CEO Shane Guidry said that clients and investors are increasingly demanding energy efficiency and emissions reduction. The four LNG-battery hybrid vessels - Harvey Liberty, Harvey Power, Harvey Freedom and Harvey America - will be fitted with the 1100VDC - 745 kWh ESSes in 2021 and are expected to go into service in early 2022. (Source: Work Boat 01/12/21) Corvus Energy receives ESS order for four Harvey Gulf OSVs | WorkBoat

AHI posts sheet metal tech job

Airbus Helicopters Inc. In Columbus, Miss., has posted a position for Senior Aircraft Technician - Sheet metal – to perform work on assigned aircraft, assemblies, and parts in the sheet metal area. (Source: Airbus 01/2021) Sr. Aircraft Technician - Sheetmetal (NHC/Retrofit) 9.26.19 - Columbus, MS - Airbus Helicopters, Inc Jobs (applicantpro.com)

Justice keys virtual MLK event

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben V. Anderson, the first African-American justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, will keynote Mississippi State University’s 27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast and Day of Service on Jan. 18. Anderson, a senior partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP, served on the Mississippi court from 1985-91. Prior to presiding on the Supreme Court, Anderson was a Circuit Court judge for Mississippi’s 7th Circuit Court District, County Court judge for Hinds County, and Municipal Court judge for the city of Jackson. He spent eight years as the Mississippi Associate Counsel for the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Anderson is an alumnus of Tougaloo College and the University of Mississippi School of Law. The event will be held virtually and will be broadcast at 8 a.m. on MSTV and livestreamed at www.mstv.msstate.edu, in addition to being made available on the MSU website. It will re-air on MSTV at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday.  (Source: MSU 01/13/20)

Stennis' AR1 teetering toward tests

WASHINGTON - Aerojet Rocketdyne has completed the assembly of the first AR1, a new kerosene-based rocket engine originally funded by the Air Force - and dollars cut by Congress - at its engine assembly facility at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. AR currently has no customers for the engine., and plans to market it for first-stage boosters in medium-sized launch vehicles – with hopes of drawing the interest of the new U.S. Space Force. “The next step is to get it tested,” Aerojet’s senior VP Jim Maser told SpaceNews on Jan. 11. Congress has allocated $15M for testing, but not specifically for the AR1. The AR1 is the first oxygen-rich staged combustion kerosene engine of this class built in the U.S. The AF originally wanted the engine as a possible replacement of the Russian RD-180 that powers the first stage of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket. After Congress directed the AF to end its reliance on Russian engines, it awarded Aerojet more than $800M for development, testing and certification of AR1. The contract was later reduced to $350M after ULA went with a different engine (Blue Origin’s BE-4) to power Stage 1 of its Vulcan rocket. AR signed an agreement with launch startup Firefly Aerospace for possible use of the AR1 engine in Firefly’s future launch vehicle to lift medium-sized payloads. AR’s next hurdle is to re configure one of Stennis’ test stand. The center mostly tests hydrogen engines. Aerojet Rocketdyne is in the process of being acquired by Lockheed Martin. Neither company could comment on how the acquisition would affect AR1. (Source: SpaceNews 01/12/21) Aerojet Rocketdyne completes assembly of its first AR1 rocket engine - SpaceNews

HII among firms halting PAC$

WASHINGTON - Three major defense contractors joined a growing list of corporate giants, plus Huntington Ingalls Industries shipbuilding, in halting political contributions, in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol, seeking to distance themselves from the controversy. Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Leidos are temporarily pausing all donations to members of Congress across the board. Leidos Chairman/CEO Roger Krone said in a statement Jan. 12. “We are shocked and appalled by the behavior that took place … Democracy thrives on passionate debate, but dies in anarchy and violence.” Leidos’ PAC has decided to temporarily pause all political donations. A Northrop Grumman spokesperson said: “(W)e are pausing political action committee giving and evaluating the way forward.” The country’s largest shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls, has also stopped PAC contributions, but it is not clear when that action took effect. “HII’s employee PAC is currently paused while they review the budget and any governance changes to possibly implement in the new cycle,” spokesperson Beci Benton said in a Jan. 12 e-mail to Breaking Defense, adding it happened “recently.”  HII operations are primarily located in Pascagoula, Miss., and Norfolk, Va. A Raytheon spokesperson said the company has “paused all political action committee contributions to reflect on the current environment.” (Source: Breaking Defense 01/13/21) Defense Firms Join Wall Street, Tech Giants & Shut Hill Money Spigot « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

Brockway earns Navy-wide award

Katie Brockway, the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites' general manager at NCBC Gulfport, Miss., has been named the 2020 Commander Navy Installations Command NGIS Supervisor of the Year. Adding to the difficulties of managing a staff during the COVID outbreak, she also oversaw the taking on of several hundred quarantined personnel from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7). Brockway earned the highly-competitive award out of 71 Navy installations across the world. (Source: NCBC Gulfport 01/11/21) (1) Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport | Facebook 

Pascagoula 5% of HTS contract

American Superconductor Corp., Devens, Mass., is awarded a $14,940,659 hybrid firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract in support of the supplies and services required to deliver a high temperature superconducting degaussing system (HTS). This procurement is for the delivery of an HTS, in accordance with the landing platform docks-class configuration. This includes the fabrication, testing and delivery of a ship’s set of components/materials; the analysis of configuration-based engineering change proposals; and vendor representative support during installation. The HTS degaussing system components/materials include a control unit, power modules, junction boxes, cryo-coolers, accumulation tanks, HTS degaussing cable assemblies and cold gas lines. Work will be performed in Ayer (95%); and Pascagoula, Miss. (5%), and is expected to be completed by September 2023. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Pa., is the contracting activity (Source: DoD 01/11/21).

Navy DE from MS: Give 100%

For many student-athletes who follow their football playing abilities as far as their talents will allow, the road often ends before the player wants, expects or is ready. For J’Arius Warren, a Long Beach Miss., native who excelled in high school and, just completed his junior year of football at the Naval Academy, is preparing for the future. When not with the team, he is focused to the max on academics. “It took (a) year to figure out how serious school was. You have to keep grinding day in and day out.” As football or life goes, “your spot is never guarantee.” One has to give 100 percent to both, he said. Warren has two directions as far as his Navy career, with either Marine ground infantry or Navy surface warfare. “My most memorable moment in the football season was the Army-Navy game because it was historic, the first time it was played at West Point since the 1930s. “It was a unique experience that I will never forget,” said Warren. (Source: NCBC Gulfport 01/11/21) (1) Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport | Facebook

Bays, bayous symposium winners

The 2020 Bays and Bayous Symposium Student Awards Committee announced recipients of its Mike deGruy Bays and Bayous Symposium Student Presentation Awards. Graduate and undergraduate students studying coastal and marine sciences competed for the awards in two categories: 12-minute oral presentation and 3-minute lightning talk. The presentations were part of a December, virtual symposium. The winners in the 12-min presentation: First Place ($300) to Eric Weingarten, University of Mississippi, Department of Biology, for “Non-linear responses of wetland sediment microbiota to salinity.” Second Place ($200) to Kara Gadeken, University of South Alabama, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, for “Changes in sediment metabolism and macrofaunal activity throughout the diel oxygen cycle: Early findings.” Third Place ($100): Spencer Weitzel, Mississippi State University, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture for “Availability and assessment of microplastic ingestion by marsh birds in Mississippi Gulf Coast tidal marshes.” 3-minute competitionwinners: First Place ($300): Christian Hayes, The University of Southern Mississippi, Division of Coastal Sciences, for “Nekton trophic structure in turtlegrass ecosystems across the Northern Gulf of Mexico.” Second Place ($200): Carly Jones, University of Alabama, Department of Geography, for “Reconstructing multi-century streamflow records in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta: Early findings.” Third Place ($100): Skylar Liner, Mississippi State University, Coastal Research and Extension Center, for “Boat wake dynamics in no-wake zones.” The Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation sponsored the award prizes. (Source: Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium 12/07/21) Students receive 2020 Mike deGruy Bays and Bayous Symposium presentation awards - News - Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (masgc.org)

POWs’ heartbreaking lessons

Op-Ed By Capt. Tim Kinsella, NAS Pensacola

Every year, former American prisoners of war (POWs) are invited to visit the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Repatriated Prisoners of War Studies here at NAS Pensacola, where they are evaluated to study the long-term mental and physical effects of captivity. John McCain visited for a while until his congressional duties became too time-consuming, as did Medal of Honor recipient Brig. Gen. Bud Day, who is laid to rest here at Barrancas National Cemetery. I’ve met former POWs on many occasions through the years, and have found them to possess a deep sense of duty and patriotism. I have also found them to have a serenity and grace that is underscored with a fierce tenacity, learned from enduring years of solitary confinement, torture, and the torment of never knowing if that day’s sunrise would be their last. Early last year, weeks after the terrorist shooting on base, I invited former POW Guy Gruters, with whom I had become friends, to join my family, for dinner. He and his wife, Sandy, joined us for what would be one of the most memorable dinners of my life. He told stories about Naval Aviator Michael Christian (and his cell-made American flag) … I asked Guy how (those POWs) could keep hope alive, knowing that each day could be their last. … (Source: Pensacola News Journal op-ed letter 01/10/21) Heartbreaking lessons from POWs reminder for leaders | Capt. Kinsella (pnj.com)