Prime Environmental Services Company, B-291148.3, March 4, 2003

B-291148.3 Mar 04, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest that contracting agency improperly evaluated protester's proposal with respect to the firm's performance history and certain technical areas is denied where the record shows that the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation's evaluation factors. Prime is the incumbent contractor providing these services. Award was to be made to the firm whose offer was most advantageous to the government. The technical factor was comprised of four equally important subfactors: management capability. After the proposals were evaluated. The contracting officer determined that all offerors save one were nonresponsible. That its proposal was weak in the areas of staff adequacy and financial condition. View Decision Prime Environmental Services Company, B-291148.3, March 4, 2003 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Prime Environmental Services Company protests the award of a contract to North State Environmental under request for proposals (RFP) No. 600-088-02, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to procure hazardous waste removal services at VA facilities in southern California. Prime argues that the agency improperly evaluated its proposal and unreasonably selected North State's higher-priced proposal for award. We deny the protest. The VA issued this solicitation on June 26, 2002 to procure the services of a contractor to remove and dispose of hazardous waste at VA facilities in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Loma Linda, and San Diego, California. Prime is the incumbent contractor providing these services. The solicitation anticipated the award of a fixed-price contract for a base period of 1 year, with up to four 1-year option periods. Award was to be made to the firm whose offer was most advantageous to the government, considering three equally important evaluation factors: performance history, technical, and price. The technical factor was comprised of four equally important subfactors: management capability, staff adequacy, facilities and equipment, and financial condition. RFP at 157. The VA received proposals from six firms by the July 24 closing date. After the proposals were evaluated, the contracting officer determined that all offerors save one were nonresponsible. North State challenged that determination in a protest filed in our Office on August 19. Several days later, the firm withdrew its protest based upon the contracting officer's notice that he had withdrawn his nonresponsibility determination and would conduct discussions with the firm. The VA then conducted discussions with each offeror, and requested the submission of final proposal revisions (FPR). Despite the agency's advice during discussions that the firm's service in the past had not been satisfactory, and that its proposal was weak in the areas of staff adequacy and financial condition, Prime's proposal revisions were limited to its price proposal. The final point scores from the VA's evaluation of the FPRs were as follows: /1/ . North State Prime Performance History 88 points 60 points Technical 94 points 54.25 points . Management Capability 24 points 24 points . Staff Adequacy 23 points 0 points . Facilities and Equipment 22 points 22 points . Financial Condition 25 points 8.25 points . Price $792,718 $679,682 The contracting officer, acting as the SSA, noted that Prime's past performance score was the lowest of all offerors, and recited various reasons for this low score. Among other things, the SSA explained that Prime tended to be non-responsive and slow to respond to requests for service, and had mismanaged waste, causing the government to expend extra funds to correct the problem and subjecting the government to potential regulatory violations. The SSA also explained that Prime used a cumbersome manifest system, and that North State offered a superior records management system. Specifically, the agency found that North State's records management system allows the firm to arrive at the pick-up site with a pre-printed manifest indicating that the disposal facility has issued an acceptance authorization. In contrast, the agency found that Prime generally writes its manifest on site and seeks authorization from the disposal facility later. The SSA stated that waiting for this authorization until after the pick-up delayed the VA's ability to send a copy of the manifest to the appropriate regulatory body and jeopardized its ability to meet regulatory time limits. The SSA also found that Prime's staff was not as large or well trained as that of North State. He stated that packing the waste was one of the most complicated parts of the requirement, and a mistake could lead to a dangerous reaction of incompatible chemicals. The SSA found that the fact North State always has a chemist present during the packing was an advantage over Prime's use of a truck driver to perform the packing.