Parsons Corporation Working Behind the Scenes to Push Through Delta Tunnels

A review of federal election campaign contributions reveals that Parsons Corporation, an international infrastructure contractor with 13 offices (including its headquarters) in California and 106 worldwide, has contributed to campaign coffers not only of Riverside Republican House member Ken Calvert but House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of Bakersfield. Last week, Restore the Delta reported that Parsons contributed $10,000 to Calvert in 2018. According to opensecrets.org, Parsons also gave $10,000 to House majority leader McCarthy in the 2018 cycle.

Parsons Corporation Vice President Steve Hirai publicly supported the California WaterFix project in comments to the May 9 joint oversight hearing of three Assembly committees while plugging its tunnels engineering and construction experience (see 3:02:01), and partners with Tutor Perini and Zachry construction firms for the California High-Speed Rail environmental impact report. Parsons contacts were also introduced to small business people at a January 2018 Department of Water Resources workshop where Parsons was included as a prime contractor for California WaterFix.

House majority leader McCarthy will be a key congressional figure in whether the California WaterFix exemption rider (Section 437 of the House Interior Appropriation bill released recently) passes Congress and is signed by President Donald Trump sometime this summer. If passed, the rider would end all due process recourses relating to the Tunnels project for the public and affected private individuals, a wholesale denial of civil and due process rights for thousands of people in California.

Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla commented,
“Since our inception, Restore the Delta has followed the rule of law, whether engaging constructively with available due processes such as hearings on the Tunnels before the State Water Board and Delta Stewardship Council, or peaceably assembling for rallies on public grounds such as the State Capitol and other venues. It is deeply disappointing that neither California Governor Jerry Brown, State Attorney General Xavier Becerra, nor House whip McCarthy have spoken out against the affront to civil rights and due process that Section 437 of the House Interior Appropriations bill represents. However, we are grateful that Senator Feinstein has expressed her opposition to the rider as reported by the Los Angeles Times. We hope to see Senator Harris take a position against the rider in the near future.”

For immediate release:
May 22, 2018
Contact:
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053

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