The flood recovery process continues to be a nightmare for the John Bel Edwards administration. Now the firm that lost the bid to administer that state’s $1.3 billion flood recovery program, AECOM, is filing a protest over the decision.

From Baton Rouge Business Report:

AECOM, the firm that lost out to IEM on the contract to administer the state’s $1.3 billion flood recovery assistance program, has filed a formal complaint over IEM’s selection.

In its protest to the state, AECOM, which had the second-highest score of the five teams that submitted proposals earlier this month, says IEM should be thrown out for no less than a dozen reasons. Chief among them, however, is that IEM’s price is $65 million to $74 million more than AECOM’s.

“The AECOM team will significantly help more low-income people than IEM,” a draft copy of the protest document obtained by Daily Report reads. “AECOM is the best value for our citizens and should have been selected.”

AECOM’s protest comes as the state is trying to finalize contract talks with IEM and get the flood recovery program off the ground. Federal money became available to the state early last week.

The protest is the latest headache for state officials in a procurement process that has been marred by controversy. In early March, the state picked IEM to run the program. Before a contract could be finalized, however, it scrapped the procurement and restarted the contract solicitation process because of issues about licensure requirements and concerns about costs.

This is yet another snag for flood recovery. We will be monitoring this story and will have more as it develops.