Pasadena firm’s work in Iraq is faulted

The U.S. government paid Parsons Corp., a Pasadena-based contractor, $142 million to build prisons, fire stations and police facilities in Iraq that it never built or finished, according to audits by a watchdog office.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said Parsons completed about one-third of its projects, which also included courthouses and border control stations.

The inspector general’s office is expected to release two detailed audits today evaluating Parsons’ work.

“Far less was accomplished under this contract than originally planned,” the inspector general wrote. “Millions of dollars in waste are likely associated with incomplete, terminated and abandoned projects under this contract.”

Auditors did not give a dollar figure of how much had potentially been wasted.

Parsons, a construction and engineering company, said in a written statement Sunday that it had “some serious reservations about the conclusions” in the audits, saying the company was hindered by the violent and unstable security situation in Iraq.

One of Parsons’ subcontractors was shot and killed at close range while in his office, the company said.

Parsons’ work is emblematic of other troubles in the $50 billion U.S. reconstruction effort. But auditors conceded that Parsons’ “failure to complete some of the work was understandable because of its complex nature and unstable security environment.”