Engineering Contract Made in Error, O.C. Officials Say

County officials acknowledged Wednesday that a mistake was made when county staff hired an engineering firm for $75,000 to work on the El Toro airport project without first consulting the Board of Supervisors.

Nearly two weeks ago, county staff hired Geo Syntech to analyze landfill sites at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which will be turned over to the county in fall 1999.

The consultants were hired through a contract extension with the law firm McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, which reviews landfill-related legal issues for the county, Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeir said in a memo.

The decision to hire Geo Syntech was made after county staff and attorneys with the private law firm reviewed a list of 12 candidates, according to Mittermeir’s memo.

County Supervisor Todd Spitzer charged that staff violated the county’s procurement policy by approving the contract without bringing the matter before supervisors. Spitzer opposes the county’s proposal to build a commercial airport at El Toro.

“You should always assume that you have to come to the Board of Supervisors on issues of procurements and contracts versus trying to find a clever way not to,” said Spitzer. “[County staff] should have deferred to the board on this compelling public interest issue.”

After Spitzer’s allegation, the county counsel’s office reviewed the county’s procurement policy, which states that any new contract over $25,000 must be approved by the board.

County Counsel Laurence Watson concluded that a mistake had been made and that the contract required board approval.

“There was a potential problem,” Watson said. “When the issue was raised we pulled out the contract looked at the language and said, ‘Oops.’ ”

The federal government is responsible for all environmental cleanup at the base and will monitor the progress at contaminated sites for 15 to 20 years, military officials said. The county could be held liable in the future if environmental hazards are found, county officials said.

Military officials do not plan to bore for samples of landfill content, fearing that it will cause contaminants to leak outside of the landfill area, said Capt. Matt Morgan, spokesman for base conversion issues at El Toro.

The military proposes to cap the two landfills with 4 feet of earth.

Lorenza Mun~oz can be reached at phone number 966-5989 or by e-mail lorenza.munoz@latimes.com