北达科他州承包商Fisher Sand和Gravel为建造美国 - 墨西哥边境墙壁的努力正在产生新的工作，但也有许多新的争议和推翻。

The U.S. Defense Dept Inspector General has agreed to probe the firm's win of its first big federal border wall contract, for $400-million awarded Dec. 2 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Arizona.

The investigation was requested Dec. 4 by the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, linking the award o numerous pitches made to President Donald Trump on Fox News cable channels by firm President Tommy Fisher and questioning the firm's capabilities.

In a letter to the committee, the IG said it is "assessing the methodology of that audit and will formally announce the audit soon."

The company has not responded to ENR, but Tommy Fisher said on Dec. 12 that there would be “nothing to find” in an audit, and that the firm was told it was "the lowest price and the best value," according to an Associated Press report.

Meanwhile, federal and state authorities issued restraining orders to halt Fisher’s work on a privately funded wall section on private land along the Rio Grande in Texas, which legal documents claim is unauthorized and unpermitted.

委员会主席众议员伯尼·汤普森（Bernie Thompson）（D-Miss。）已要求美国国防部监察长办公室审查Fisher的军团奖，以在亚利桑那州尤马县的Cabeza Prieta国家野生动物保护区设计和建造边境结构。

国防部宣布表示，该公司将在2020年12月30日的目标日期之前获得2.7亿美元的墙壁，以建造31英里的隔离墙，如果行使期权，则将授予其余合同资金。

Try, Try Again

The federal wall construction contract win is the first for Fisher, despite numerous previous attempts—including its submission of a border wall prototype design in 2017 and successful bid protests and a court challenge earlier this year of other wall contract awards from which it had been barred from bidding.

汤普森说，费舍尔在12月2日之前尚未获得施工合同，因为据报道其提议不符合美国海关和边境保护的运营要求。

他说：“尽管如此，特朗普总统个人曾多次敦促（军团）向该公司授予建设合同。”军团奖。德克萨斯州的埃尔帕索（El Paso），边境巡逻部门负责人格洛里亚·查韦斯（Gloria Chavez）告诉记者，私人墙允许该地区更有效的边境执法。

但是汤普森说，政府行动“引起了人们对签订决定不当影响的可能性的担忧。”

He asked the IG to review Fisher’s bid to ensure it met solicitation standards and that the award was made in line with federal procurement law and regulations. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), whose district includes Cabeza Prieta, supports a review of the contract, saying “it’s being facilitated by shady handouts and blatant corruption.”

The Corps said in a statement that it follows federal regulations when it awards contracts.

“Companies are awarded contracts when they are determined to provide the best value to the government for the particular procurement action undertaken,” the agency said. “It is not uncommon for companies that submit offers on government contracts over a period of time to provide both unsuccessful and successful offers.”A Corps spokesman said it has not received any bid protests of the award.

Fisher did not respond to an ENR inquiry related to the award, but in a statement, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who media reports say received a $10,000 campaign donation from Tommy Fisher, said in a statement, “I know they will do very well, performing high quality work at a good bargain.” He told the Washington Post that the firm submitted “an acceptable design with the low bid.”

Sen. John Hoeven, (R-N.D.), said on his Senate website that Fisher "has the right experience to build the wall on the southern border.”

Related to Fisher’s private wall building, a state court in Hidalgo County, Texas, on Dec. 3 issued the temporary halt to its project near Mission, Texas, following a complaint filed by the North American Butterfly Association/National Butterfly Center, which claims flood risks from the 3.5-mile structure to its immediately adjacent property.

GoFundMe

The private wall is being developed by We Build the Wall, an activist group that raised $25 million through a GoFundMe page “to help President Trump fund the building of a border wall … without governmental approval or oversight,” says the complaint.

“Defendants have committed willfully, maliciously and with an actual and subjective intent to commit great harm to the plaintiff,” state Judge Keno Vasquez said when granting the restraining order.

The butterfly sanctuary’s complaint says defendants “claim that they can single-handedly build a border wall faster than the government and at a fraction of the price. They fail to mention … [it’s] because they do not get approvals for their plans, comply with any laws regarding construction nor do they conduct studies to ensure they will not cause more harm than good.”

该中心表示，与其财产相邻的开挖和建筑物将导致地表水转移到其财产上，改变可能破坏一部分土地的侵蚀模式。

“They can do what they want on private property, but what they can’t do is damage others,” Javier Pena, Butterfly Center attorney, said.

联邦禁令

The U.S. Justice Dept. also filed a complaint to stop unauthorized land clearing and construction by Fisher and We Build the Wall along the Rio Grande because the work lacked a permit required by international treaty from the International Boundary and Water Commission.

12月5日发布的联邦临时限制令禁止费舍尔“建造柱布结构，墙壁或类似结构，倒入混凝土或里奥格兰德洪泛区内的任何其他永久性结构，直到遵守”有国际条约规则。

Earth Justice has asked the Corps to immediately investigate the project’s apparent lack of federal clean water act permits.

Fisher parent firm Fisher Industries did submit two documents to the commission related to the hydraulic effect of its proposed bollard structure, but Justice said in its complaint that they “contained very little substance and failed to show the extent of any hydraulic testing that may have been conducted by Fisher or We Build the Wall.”

The complaint also noted “scant detail about the planned work on the bank of the Rio Grande.”

Fisher began clear-cutting a 120-ft-wide swath along the Rio Grande and has completely cleared almost the entire riverbank without a permit, Justice said.

Fisher has not responded further to the complaints, nor did it return an ENR query about them.

News reports confirmed that construction has continued after both orders were issued.

“We are getting it built,” Brian Kolfage, founder of We Build the Wall, said on the day of the state-issued halt. He posted a video depicting a burly hard hat-wearing field manager named “Foreman Mike,” who explains how Fisher subcontractor Stinger Bridge & Iron would begin placing bollard panels within 48 hours and would complete the wall by Jan. 15. “We have to supercharge it now,” he said. His role with project participants could not be confirmed.

The Hidalgo County sheriff’s office said it was told by the builders that construction was not going to stop, according to U.K. publication The Guardian, which documented on Dec. 6 that work was continuing.

A spokesman for the sheriff’s office would not confirm the report to ENR.