A bomb-disposal specialist working in northeast Syria on a controversial State Department grant was killed recently and at least two others were injured while dismantling IEDs left behind by the Islamic State, according to a State Department spokesman and a knowledgeable source.
It was the second confirmed death of a bomb-disposal expert working for Tetra Tech, the recipient of the disputed State Department grant, related to an accidental IED explosion in Syria in two years.
"We can confirm a recent incident where a team member of Tetra Tech, our implementing partner working in northeast Syria to survey and clear explosive hazards and other members were injured in the line of duty," a State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon Friday.
"We extend our condolences to their loved ones and colleagues and salute their selfless dedication to the ongoing international stabilization effort, and above all, to save lives and help Syrians liberated from ISIS's brutal rule begin rebuilding their lives."
The bomb-removal work is dangerous but critically important for communities displaced by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which left IED booby traps intended to maim or kill returning families or government workers.
Despite the obvious danger, companies and nonprofits engaged in munitions removal usually take extreme cautionary steps to prevent the accidental detonating of IEDs and other bombs such as limiting the sensitive defusion process to one expert for each bomb.
The news of the death comes amid internal State Department scrutiny of a much larger sole-source contract to the same company, Tetra Tech, for IED bomb removal in hot spots around the world.
The contract, worth up to $850 million, has faced a formal internal reconsideration process after a Free Beacon report raised questions about Tetra Tech's safety record and limited munitions-removal experience and the unusual circumstances under which it was selected for the lucrative IED removal work.
The State Department spokesman did not respond to a Free Beacon question asking whether the bomb-disposal worker's death would prompt even greater scrutiny of the State Department's decision to give Tetra Tech the $850 million contract for IED removal in hot spots around the world.
The spokesman also didn't respond to a request for the names and nationalities of the employee killed and those injured, nor would he provide the total number of fatalities and wounded working in bomb removal for Tetra Tech while under grant or contract with the State Department.
That pending contract would make Tetra Tech the only commercial entity responsible for U.S. taxpayer-funded IED and other bomb clean-up efforts around the world.
The State Department's Political-Military, Weapons Abatement (PMWRA) office awarded the $850 million contract to Tetra Tech in May. However, the State Department pulled the award back in mid-June to reevaluate it.
The Free Beacon's previous reporting raised questions about the timing and approval process of the previous $48 million no-bid State Department grant to Tetra Tech for bomb removal in Syria that sources say paved the way for the larger $850 million contract.
The approval of the $48 million grant was rushed through the State Department in the final days of the Obama administration in order to lock it in before President Trump was inaugurated, two sources with detailed knowledge about the process told the Free Beacon.
Tetra Tech is an engineering services company that specializes in construction management and has a much more limited history in munitions and ordnance clearance than many other companies and NGOS.
Previous questions about Tetra Tech's safety record arose after the high-profile death of one of its employees while clearing bombs ISIS left in Raqqa, Syria last October.
The employee was a 41-year-old British bomb disposal expert who had spent 20 years in the British Army's bomb disposal units in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Tetra Tech's spokeswoman Charlie MacPherson previously referred all of the Free Beacon's questions about the grant to the State Department.
The Free Beacon specifically requested the company's safety record on the Syria grant and asked whether it followed all U.S. government rules in applying for the State Department grant.
Asked in May for details about why the State Department's Political-Military Affairs' Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, or PMWRA, gave the grant to Tetra Tech, a State Department official said only: "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on contracting details."
The official referred to a State Department fact sheet on the Syria IED clearance project, which said the PMWRA office had provided a total of $54 million since fiscal year 2015 to support the clean-up efforts "with additional financial contributions coming from our international partners."
The IED and mine clearance project, resulted in the removal of 20,000 landmines, pieces of unexploded ordnance and IEDs from more than 15.5 square meters of land, "facilitating the refurbishment of critical infrastructure and return of agricultural land previously denied to Syrians by ISIS-placed explosive hazards," according to the fact sheet.
Pressed further to provide an explanation about why the $48 million for IED bomb removal was provided through a grant, not a contract, and rushed through in the final days of the Obama administration, the State Department asked for more time and responded two days later.
A State Department official said the PMWRA office "generally works with for-profit companies in cases where humanitarian needs exceed the capabilities of demining NGOs."
"Syria is arguably the most difficult country in the world to conduct these operations in," the official said. "This project was awarded in full compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and administrative procedures governing grants and cooperative agreements."
The State Department official did not say why PMWRA did not give other companies with extensive de-mining experience, such as Janus Global Operations, Optima, FSD/Crosstech, Mechem, UXB, DynCorps, or NGOs a chance to bid on the Syria project.
"Following the liberation of Manbij [in Northern Syria] from ISIS control in August 2016, we had an urgent need for an implementing partner who could work in the exceptionally difficult security environment and who had the resources, technical capacity, and willingness to implement a program quickly and effectively," the official said.
However, with other companies and NGOs already providing IED removal in the region, Tetra Tech was not uniquely situated to take on and execute the grant, sources say.
There is no evidence, for instance, that Tetra Tech was already working in Syria on IED projects prior to their no-bid grant award.
The State Department official said the company's safety record is "comparable to other organizations clearing explosive hazards in areas liberated from ISIS control" but declined to provide details or numbers of those who have died or have been injured on the job.