 August 20, 2004
The federal agency had threatened to debar the companies from receiving new federal contracts, a decision that Tanadgusix officials said could have dire consequences for TDX and their shareholders on the remote island in the Bering Sea. In May GSA officials had proposed debarring both TDX and Marisco Ltd., an Hawaiian shipyard, because lawyers for the Government and an opposing shipyard have alleged, in yet-to-be-resolved complaints, that TDX mislead the government into believing that a surplus World War II-era Navy drydock would be moved to Alaska. A review of the allegations by Joseph Neurauter, the GSA's Suspension and Debarment Official, reversed that proposed action and dropped TDX's threatened debarment. "We are grateful for the GSA decision," said Ron Philemonoff, chairman and CEO of TDX. "This is good news for residents of St. Paul Island." TDX is the third largest employer on the island. TDX has asserted in several court proceedings that it had always clearly stated its intention to use the drydock in Hawaii and that it never represented that it would move the 60-year-old drydock out of Hawaii. With the cooperation of the Marisco shipyard at Kapolei, it has used the drydock for job training for people from St. Paul, where job opportunities are few. The future of the drydock remains the object of civil litigation in Hawaii and Alaska. Two of the lawsuits are currently before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
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