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Bechtel Corporation
San Francisco, CA
www.bechtel.com
From water to nuclear energy, Bechtel Group has manipulated both
elements to build a business empire. As one of the largest construction
and engineering companies in the world, Bechtel Group develops,
manages, engineers, builds and operates telecomunications projects,
water systems, petroleum and chemical plants, pipelines, nuclear
power plants, mining and metal projects, and civil infrastructure
projects. Last year Bechtel booked $23.3 billion worth of
new business and worked off $15.1 billion in revenue, increases
of 75% and 20% respectively (1).
Bechtel has been involved in some of the world’s largest and
most ambitious construction projects. The Hoover Dam, the
first oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, the Alaskan oil pipeline,
and our first nuclear power plants; all constructed by the private
corporation under contracts that have been secured through brilliant
manipulation of personal connections. Since the dawn of the nuclear
age Bechtel has successfully solidified its position as the preeminent
company for building all things nuclear. Bechtel helped to design
and/or construct 45 nuclear power plants in 22 states (2).
Recent Bechtel projects include decommissioning the Connecticut
Yankee nuclear power plant, managing ExxonMobil’s Singapore
Chemical Complex, building an oil pipeline in Mexico, the Meizhou
Wan power plant in China, the Collahuasi copper project in Chile,
Space Launch Complex in California, the Reliance oil refinery in
India, the Ragian nickel and copper complex in Canada and the Boyne
Island aluminum smelter in Australia.
In times of the greatest backlash against nuclear power, particularly
after the disaster at 3-mile island Bechtel has done its best to
boast the benefits of nuclear power. Ironically Bechtel now makes
money off of the clean up of nuclear waste as well – a win-win
situation for the company. Covering the spectrum of nuclear waste
and production follows the logic of Steve Bechtel Sr. "We are
not in the construction and engineering business. We are in the
business of making money" (3). Although Bechtel has
its hands in various international and domestic operations it is
water and nuclear energy that are currently creating the most controversy
surrounding the company.
One of Bechtel’s most important programs is Bechtel Nevada
which manages operations at the Nevada Test site – a test bed
for conducting defense-related nuclear experiments and national
security experiments - for DoE’s Nevada Operations Office which
recently became National Nuclear Security Administration. The Nevada
Test site is a massive outdoor laboratory and experiment center
that is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Bechtel Nevada runs
in partnership with Johnson Controls Nevada, Inc.; and Lockheed
Martin Nevada Technologies, Inc., and partners with Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National
Laboratories on many projects. Bechtel Nevada also works on projects
for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy.
‹ The four major
‘missions’ of Bechtel Nevada are:
l Stockpile
Stewardship - provides experimental capabilities necessary to maintain confidence
in the safety and performance of weapons in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.
Stockpile Stewardship is also responsible for maintaining the ability to resume
underground nuclear testing.
l Environmental Management – responsible for Environmental Management,
Pollution Prevention, Waste Minimization, and Science and Technology Development.
l Defense and Civil Projects – includes Conventional Ordinance Testing
which supports the U.S. military in the research and development of new munitions.
The benefit of performing the Conventional Ordinance Testing at the Nevada Test
Site is the specialized facilities allow live munitions to be tested by firing
them at real targets. The HazMat Spill Center (HSC) – fully permitted to
release highly hazardous chemical is a controlled environment for experimental
purposes. The X-Tunnel Demilitarization Test Facility – an underground
testing ground for demilitarization processes including disposition of conventional
ammunition, rocket motors, and energetics.
l National Security Response – includes several programs for crisis
management, which includes advanced technologies, terrorism-related intelligence
and remote date acquisition and analysis. Includes Protective counter Measure/Weapons
of Mass Destruction training.
Public Tours of The Nevada Test Site are offered monthly. Cameras, binoculars,
firearms or recording devices are not allowed on the tour. Foreign Nationals
may be required to provide additional information.
Privatization of Water
What seems to be a benign interest – water - has erupted into an economically,
socially and politically destabilizing force for communities in
both the third and first world. Bechtel has taken advantage of a
push pull scenario facing the future of public infrastructure. Third
world countries are pushed into privatizing their water systems
by World Bank structural adjustment policies that view privatization
as the answer to many of the financial woes of the third world.
In the first world municipalities are pulled into water privatization
as a way to dump responsibility of restructuring antiquated systems.
The privatization of water systems inevitably results in increased
prices for consumers forcing poor people to choose whether or not
water takes precedence over food, clothing, or shelter. Privatizing
water systems translates into a guarantee of steady income for corporations
that secure a monopoly over the water system.
Currently, Bechtel’s efforts to privatize water systems in
San Francisco and Boliva have spawned major protests against the
company. In February 2000, Bolivia’s third largest city, Cochabamba
erupted into a battle over water. The public water system was sold
off to Bechtel. Subsequently, the price of water in Cochabumba skyrocketed
creating panic among Bolivians and forcing them onto the streets
in protest. A 17 year old boy was killed, hundreds were injured
and arrested as thousands protested for their basic right of access
to affordable water. Although the citizen unrest was directed at
Bechtel’s opportunistic venture, Bechtel framed their interest
in Bolivia in a humanitarian context. "Currently more than
40% of the region’s citizens have no direct access to water
resources. We were invited by the government to participate in a
privatization program to develop long-term solutions to provide
safe and affordable water and wastewater services" (5).
To the contrary, a Bolivian protest leader claimed, "The blood
spilled in Cochabamba carries the fingerprints of Bechtel"
(6). Bechtel finally agreed to leave Bolivia, but only after
the Bolivian government paid the corporation between $12 and $40
million in compensation. The case is currently in litigation in
the Netherlands.
Back on Bechtel’s home turf of San Francisco, the company has
won a $45 million contract to repair and manage San Francisco’s
water system. Many San Franciscans are frustrated that a corporation
that has questionable human rights and environmental record will
manage the city’s water system. Additionally, many are skeptical
that Bechtel can provide cost efficient service, particularly considering
its current performance on the ‘Big Dig’ in Boston.
The ‘Big Dig’ has become the ‘Big Nightmare’
in Boston. Bechtel was contracted to oversee the massive reconstruction
of the highway system in the city of Boston that has been rife with
problems. Bechtel was contracted to reconstruct Massachusetts Interstate
93 into an underground system at a proposed cost of $2.5 billion
but is now running $11.1 billion over-budget. The project began
15 years ago. Bechtel, which is, paid $150 million a year for the
project has conspired with Boston officials to cover billions of
dollars in costs from investors and the public. A March report issued
by the Massachusetts State Inspector General claimed that Bechtel
actively participated "in the promulgation of misleading reports
to the state Legislature, "to obscure Big Dig costs. The report
also claimed that "the Turnpike Authority which oversees the
Big Dig, relies too much on the Bechtel team…and has not held
it responsible for errors" (7). Bechtel had no incentive
to reduce the cost of the project since consultant’s salaries
increased with the cost of the project.
Bechtel has a history of capitalizing on mistakes and mismanagement,
particular in the nuclear industry. Bechtel has positioned itself
to be at the forefront of nuclear construction since the dawn of
the nuclear age. Domestically, Bechtel built the "world’s
first nuclear reactor designed to generate electrical power"
in Idaho in 1951 (8). Internationally, Bechtel built the
first Indian nuclear plant at Tarapur, the largest nuclear facility
in Asia. The construction of the nuclear plant allowed for the detonation
of India’s first atomic bomb using plutonium produced by the
Tarapur reactor. Although the bomb produced a minor explosion, "A
psychological barrier had been broken. The Indian test appeared
to be the first step toward a new age of nuclear chaos. It now seemed
that anyone might build a bomb; desperately poor nations, mad dictators,
even political terrorist" (9).
Not only did Bechtel’s activities help foster a nuclear arms
race in South Asia that has had global implications, the plant also
experienced major leaks, causing severe radiation exposure in the
area. This toxic phenomenon effected many nuclear power stations
built by Bechtel. In fact, by the 1970’s the entire generation
of reactor plants Bechtel began building in the late 1950’s
were not in compliance with minimum AEC safety requirements (10).
Although Bechtel employees complained that Bechtel was using "substandard
building techniques and faulty welding techniques in the construction
of nuclear power plants" (11), Bechtel chose to ignore
such complaints and silence employees who have spoken out the company’s
safety violations.
Bechtel has transferred its business emphasis from the construction
to the cleanup industry. Currently, nuclear clean ups have proven
to be more lucrative than nuclear energy construction. The company
has been awarded numerous contracts for clean up in past decades
at some of DOE’s largest former weapons productions sites.
In 1997 Bechtel earned over half-billion dollars in revenues from
nuclear cleanup (12) ; more revenue than any other company
involved in nuclear cleanup. Although the company has been criticized
for its "dirty" performance handling cleanup jobs (13),
Bechtel continues to land DOE and DOD jobs dealing with reactors
and chemical weapons even ballistic missile launch silos in Ukraine,
and has been called a "familiar face at the DOE" (14).
Bechtel has also been intimately involved in strategic U.S. foreign
policy planning. In 1996 Bechtel proposed building a pipeline from
Turkmenistan through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey at a cost
of $2 billion. "The pipeline constitutes a key element for
the U.S. ‘s strategy to make Turkey rather than Russia the
focal point of energy exports from former Soviet republics bordering
the Caspian" (15).But by 2000, Russia has successfully
pushed the U.S. out of the pipeline project and began building a
pipeline linking Russian and Turkish coasts, spoiling U.S. strategic
plans in the region.
There has also been concern about Bechtel’s role in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Bechtel established a strong relationship with
the rebel leader Larent Kablila as well in 1997. Its interest was
characterized as "one of the latest U.S. efforts to win business
in Congo…as U.S. businesses continue to scramble for opportunity
in the mineral-rich region" (16). Bechtel went one step
further than many of its Western competitors involved in the Congo
by offering high-tech intelligence and offering to draw up a master
development plan and inventory of the country’s mineral resources
free of charge. The company compiled "the most complete mineralogical
and geographical data of the former Zaire ever assembled, information
worth a fortune to any prospective mining or oil firm" (17).
Bechtel also "commissioned and paid for U.S. National Aeronautics
and Space administration satellite studies of the country for infared
maps of its mineral potential" (18). Robert Stewart,
an executive, representing Bechtel International Inc. became "a
trusted advisor to Kabila. Mr. Stewart traveled the country with
the Congolese leader "to help him deal with ethnic uprisings
as well as with problems across the river in Brazzaville" (19).
Bechtel’s close relationship with the CIA helped influence
overthrows of several foreign governments perceived as unfriendly
to American business goals; and allowed the company to be at the
right place at the right time to take advantage of new business
opportunities with puppet regimes. Bechtel’s relationship with
the CIA began in the 1940’s. Bechtel built a major pipeline
though Saudi Arabia, which assisted the Saudis in their emergence
as a major oil producing country. Bechtel eventually established
a heavy influence in Saudi, which eventually throughout the Middle
East. The CIA utilized Bechtel’s intelligence of the region.
The company collaborated with the CIA to influence political and
economic developments.
The first coup Bechtel was involved with was the 1948 Syrian coup
spurred by Syrian hostility towards the U.S. for supporting Israel,
the Syrian government cancelled a Bechtel sponsored pipeline across
its boarders and became increasingly hostile to the U.S. State Department
documents form 1948 state that an unidentified, "multinational
corporation had indeed had a hand in overthrowing the Syrian government
notably by supplying arms and funding to the rebels according to
J. Rivers Childs, U.S. minister to Saudi Arabia, the multinational
corporation was most likely Bechtel" (20). Close ties
between Alan Dulles the CIA deputy Director and Steve Bechtel’s
financial advisor, John Simpson, facilitated the relationship between
Bechtel and the CIA. Steve Bechtel served as the CIA’s liaison
with the Business Council and several other organizations directly
linked with the CIA (21). The ties between Bechtel and the
CIA led to collaborations in intelligence gathering that helped
overthrow Iran’s Mossadeq in 1953 and Indonesia’s Sukarno
and replace them with the Reza Shah Pahlavi and Suharto respectively,
pro-Western, pro-business allies.
Bechtel’s operations increasingly mimicked those of the CIA.
The company drew up its plans and plotted its business operations
with the same devotion to secrecy and clandestine intelligence gathering
as its governmental associate, much of them based on reports furnished
by friends at the CIA and the Departments of State, Commerce and
Defense. These reports in turn were compiled into confidential weekly
summaries broken into political, military, economic and technical
categories. Typical of the intelligence flavor of the documents
was an October 1, 1976 report on Africa entitled, "Objective:
Develop new and expanded business throughout the African continent."
These reports provided a battle plan for the company’s operations
and at least partly explained why Bechtel seemed to have a knack
for being in so many places at exactly the right time" (22).
"In this business, you get to know people, sit on their boards
and one day when something comes up, they ask you to take on a project.
One thing leads to another"((23) Steve Bechtel). Such
personal connections were essential to Bechtel, particularly during
the emergence of the nuclear age, friends within various U.S. presidential
administrations ensured Bechtel’s dominance in the construction
of nuclear power plants.
Bechtel’s success in the nuclear industry was fostered by the
close relationship between Steve Bechtel and John McCone. McCone,
a former partner of Steve Bechtel and U.C. Berkeley classmate, became
Eisenhower’s chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, which
allowed Bechtel to be at the forefront of the nuclear revolution.
McCone became CIA director for both Kennedy and Johnson. Even before
McCone became apart of Eisenhower’s administration Bechtel
had several key dealings in the nuclear industry. Bechtel built
storage plants for the Manhattan Project. Bechtel also built the
‘doomsday town’ in the Nevada desert. A town specifically
built to measure the damage a nuclear weapon would have on a typical
American town. Bechtel also constructed the facility that housed
the Material Testing Accelerator project; what would eventually
become Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
Steve Bechtel’s position on the advisory board of the Export-Import
Bank has also helped Bechtel’s business influence abroad. "With
Stephen Sr. on the advisory board, the Ex-Im Bank provided generous
loans to many countries which then used these loans to help finance
Bechtel-related projects," in Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Egypt and Algeria (24).
Other key Bechtel alumni are Reagan Secretary of Defense Casper
Weinburger former Bechtel general counsel, and Reagan Secretary
of State, George Schultz former Bechtel President, and current Bechtel
board member. W. Kenneth Davis, former vice-president for nuclear
development became Reagan’s deputy secretary of Energy and
head of the Atomic Energy Commission under Reagan. William Casey,
chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission under Nixon, head
of the Export-Import bank under Ford, Reagan campaign manger and
head of the CIA under Reagan was also a Bechtel consultant.
Richard Helm was CIA director under Nixon and eventually became
a Bechtel consultant. White House political advisor Perter Flanigan
under Nixon became a senior partner in the Bechtel-owned investment
house Dillon, Read and Company. Robert L. Hollingsworth, AEC’s
general manager under Nixon became manager of manpower services
at Bechtel. Nixon Treasury secretary William Simon became a Bechtel
consultant. Additionally, numerous friends of Bechtel, too long
to list, many working in the AEC eventually ended up with Bechtel.
The close collaboration between the AEC and Bechtel was "so
incestuous it is impossible to tell where the public sector begins
and the private one leaves off" (25).
Subsidiaries and other relationships with other
corporations
Some among the many Bechtel alliances and joint ventures are Bechtel Bettis,
Inc – a subsidiary that manages and operates the U.S. navy Nuclear Propulsion
Program Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. InterGen
– a joint venture with Shell to develop, own, and operate state-of-the-art
power plants and related fuel and energy infrastructure around the world. International
Water, Ltd (IWL) An international water development service company owned jointly
by Bechtel Enterprises and Edison S.p.A. Lectrix, A joint venture of American
Electric Power (AEP), Bechtel and Siemens to provide industrial power quality
solutions transmission network enhancements (26).
End Notes:
(1) Bechtel Global Report 2000
(2) Riccio, Jim "Incompetence, Wheeling and Dealing: The Real
Bechtel" Multinational Monitor October, 1989.
(3) McCartney, Laton Friends in High Places The Bechtel Story: The
Most Secret Corporation and how it Engineered the World Simon &Schuster,
1998 p. 80
(4) www.bechtelnevada.com
(5) Shultz, Jim "While Bolivia Says Bechtel Agreement is Broken
Bechtel Says its Staying" The Democracy Center April 11, 2000.
(6) Shultz, Jim "Blame the Bechtel Corp. Not Narcotraffickers
for Bolivia Uprising" The Democracy Center April 12, 2000.
(7) Palmer, Thomas "Report Says $83 Million in Big Dig Errors
have Slipped Away" Boston Globe Jan 25, 2001.
(8) Chatterjee, Pratap "The Earth Wrecker: The Company That
Won The Contract To Oversee the Rebuilding of S.F.’s Water
System has a Disastrous Record Worldwide," San Francisco Bay
Guardian, May 31,2000.
(9) McCartney, Laton Friends in High Places p. 203
(10) ibid, 201.
(11) ibid, 201
(12) "Good Things Might Come to Those Who Wait in Nuclear Waste
Cleanup" Engineering News Record July 14, 1997.
(13) Kelley, Tina "Brookhaven Lab To Get $170 Million From
U.S." New York Times October, 3, 2000.
(14) "Bechtel to Build Nuke Waste Plant" Engineering News
Record" December 18, 2000.
(15) Dorsey, James "Turkmenistan Deal May Kill Pipeline Backed
by the U.S." Wall Street Journal November, 14, 2000.
(16) Robert Block "U.S. Firms Seek Deals in Central Africa
Wall Street Journal October 14, 1997.
(17) Ibid.
(18) ibid
(19) ibid
(20) McCartney, Laton Friends in High Places p. 115
(21) ibid 119
(22) ibid 124
(23) ibid 96
(24) Riccio, Jim "Corporate Profile: Incompetence, Wheeling
and Dealing: The Real Bechtel" www.essential.org
(25) ibid 104
(26) Bechtel Global Report
This factsheet was prepared by Dena Montague of the Arms Trade
Resource Center www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms.
For more information visit www.bechtel.com
and www.bechtelnevada.com.
Also see Jim Riccio’s "Incompetence, Wheeling and Dealing:
The Real Bechtel" Multinational Monitor October, 1989
and Laton McCartney’s Friends in High Places:The Bechtel Story:
The Most Secret Corporation and How it Engineered the World
Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Special thanks to Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange, www.globalexchange.org
and Pratap Chatterjee, Corporate Watch, www.corpwatch.org.
For More Profiles:
Alliant
Bechtel Inc.
Boeing
British Aerospace Electronics (BAE Systems)
British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)
General Dynamics
IBM
Lockheed Martin
Mitsubishi
Raytheon
Siemens
TRW
University of California
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