Amtrak tells union it will have to pay $6,080 for public records on bridge contract

East Lyme - A local union will have to pay $6,080 to find out how Amtrak chose the construction company to replace the Niantic River Bridge.

In a letter sent April 1 to the New London-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council, Amtrak said the Freedom of Information Act request involves more than 4,700 records and estimated it will take 160 hours to review and find them. Amtrak is charging $38 per hour to search and find the documents and 25 cents per page to reproduce them. It estimated the request to cost $6,080.

"All we want and requested are the documents relating to the Niantic River Bridge RFP. That's it. After all, over $104 million in economic stimulus dollars will be spent on this project and we need to find out why Amtrak decided to bypass our Connecticut contractors and workers," said Keith Brothers, president of the New London-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council.

According to the Federal Freedom of Information Act, agencies may charge "reasonable" fees for the "direct" costs of searching for and copying a records request. Search fees range from $11 to $28 per hour, and fees for computer time may be as high as $270 per hour. Photocopying costs are normally between 3 and 25 cents per page.

Charles LeConche, director of the Connecticut First Coalition, a group that supports and promotes hiring Connecticut workers, said in a press release Wednesday that Amtrak's charge is "outrageous."

Labor officials are asking U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, to investigate the matter. The congressman in the past has expressed his disappointment with Amtrak's decision to award the contract to Cianbro/Middlesex VII for the bridge replacement.

Though Cianbro has not outright stated it won't hire local workers, the Connecticut Laborers' District Council along with the New London-Norwich Building & Construction Trades Council said the company has never signed a project labor agreement in previous projects. Project labor agreements ensure local people have an opportunity to work on a given project.

The replacement of the 102-year-old moveable bridge over the Niantic River is the largest Amtrak project to be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The three-year project calls for about 700,000 man-hours and will need between 250 and 300 workers. Construction already has begun.

a.renczkowski@theday.com