Schwarzenegger Returns Engineering Donations

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has returned more than $65,000 in campaign donations from six engineering firms that could benefit from his recent emergency order to repair fragile levees.

The contributions were returned last week to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, Adam Mendelsohn, Schwarzenegger's communications director, said Wednesday.

"The need to fix our levees to prevent a catastrophic flood requires immediate and decisive action in an environment free from outside distraction," Mendelsohn said.

Last month, Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for California's levee system, which allows the state to award contracts without going through the usual competitive bidding process so repairs can be completed quickly.

One of the six firms, URS Corp. of San Francisco, already has been hired to oversee work on 24 areas most in need of repair. Officials estimate the repairs will cost $75 million to $100 million.

URS gave $21,200 to Schwarzenegger on Nov. 21, 2003, a few days after he was sworn in as governor.

The other firms are: MWH Americas Inc., of Pasadena, which gave Schwarzenegger $21,200; Kleinfelder Inc., of San Diego, which gave $2,500; PBS&J of Miami, which gave $6,500 through its political action committee; CH2M Hill Inc., of Englewood, Colo., which gave $10,000; and Washington Group International of Boise, Idaho, which gave $5,000.