RECOVERY--66--PROJECT NUMBER 111586, Title Purchase Water Quality monitoring equipment for O&M baseline environmental study at Okatibbee Lake Project for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District.

RECOVERY PER FAR 5.7 THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. The U. S. Army, Corps of Engineers has a requirement to purchase water quality monitoring equipment to establish baseline conditions for the northern portion of Okatibbee Lake. This is necessary as North American Coal is proposing to relocate the tributaries to Okatibbee Lake during the mining of coal from approximately 14, 000 acres immediately adjacent to northern USACE property boundary. Relocation of these tributaries and related mining activities has the potential to adversely affect water quality in Okatibbee Lake. By establishing baseline conditions prior to the start of the proposed mining, the USACE can better monitor the Lake for future impacts to the Lakes project purposes. Using Recovery Act Funding, the Mobile District Corps of Engineers intends to issue a firm fixed price contract to Hach Company, 5600 Lindbergh Drive, Loveland, CO 80539-0608, for the purchase of water quality monitoring equipment to establish baseline conditions for the northern portion of Okatibbee Lake. The Mobile District has water monitoring equipment in place at eight locations. To maintain compatibility and efficiency for spare parts is considered in the Governments best interest to buy the same type of equipment for the new location. The Hach Company is the only company who sells the Hydrolab equipment. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) contains specific acquisition requirements that must be met when using funds appropriated by the Act. Acquisitions must comply with FAR, and to the maximum extent practicable, be awarded under competitive procedures as fixed-price (FP) contracts. Contracting Office Address: U. A. Army Engineer District, Mobile, P. O. Box 2288, 109 Saint Joseph Street (zip 36602), Mobile, AL 36628-0001. Point of Contact: Angela Taylor, 251-694-3858