Bev Ann Barta and Iraqi engineers in Nassiriyah
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U.S. ecologist spends her 'summer vacation' in Iraq

USACE project manager juggles dozens of water assignments
during four-month stint working with Iraqi engineers

by Richard Hellmann | BC WATER NEWS

Bev Ann Barta starts her day like many hard-working Americans. She wakes up early for a morning jog, grabs a cup of coffee and heads to the office by 7:30 a.m. The big difference is her 12-hour day starts and ends in Iraq. And she wears Kevlar.

As a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an avid BC Water News reader, Barta oversees 79 water projects totaling $522 million in nine southern provinces (called directorates) in Iraq.

Although she is a civilian, working under Col. Roger Gerber for the Corps of Engineers at Tallil Air Base in Nassiriyah, she sometimes is required to wear a military uniform, but does not carry a weapon.

"I joke with my wealthier friends that I am 'summering in Iraq' this year."

“I joke with my wealthier friends that I am ‘summering in Iraq’ this year,” she said.

Barta, who is assigned with USACE’s Gulf Region South in the States, volunteered to work in Iraq for four months, beginning in April.

“I rationalized it with an analogy to a college semester,” she said. “Hard or easy, it’s a learning experience. It’s the fear of the unknown that holds us back from trying new things.”

For the past three years, she has worked as an ecologist, one of 26 in the corps, in the Savannah (Ga.) District. There, she’s involved in environmental restoration projects, such as the water regulation schedule for the Upper Lakes of the Kissimmee River in Florida. In Georgia, she worked on Gwinnett County’s Beaver Ruin and Jackson Creek environmental restoration projects, although both were put on hold because of lack of funding.

Barta said she didn’t have any perceptions or expectations about working in Iraq.

Three days each week, she travels by convoy to planning meetings of the Provincial Sector Coordination Team (PCT), accompanied by a private security detail. Iraqi decision-makers and coalition representatives attend these “fascinating” meetings, she said, and sometimes someone from the U.N., USAID or UNICEF also attend. Interpreters, of course, are always there.

With so many water projects to manage, Barta has little time for leisure activities, although she keeps up with her running and yoga, just like she does back home.

The nearest large city to the base is Basra, but “at this point, we do not travel for recreation,” she said. “It’s not considered safe.”

One of her water projects in Iraq is the Nassiriyah Water Treatment Plant, which she refers to as “our shining star.” This $173 million project is scheduled for completion by November.

“The contractor decided to import sand and manufacture concrete on site for maximum quality control,” Barta said, after the contractor terminated the concrete subcontractor and hired two replacement firms.

“Preliminary test results indicate that the new concrete subcontractor has achieved seven-day concrete strengths of 28 N/m² — a 28-day strength of 30 N/m² is required. We think this is great — exceptional in Iraq,” she said.

To increase production and make up for lost time, Barta said the contractor is using two shifts for formwork and concrete placement; the second shift lasts until 10 p.m. The contractor also has started trenching operations and laying the 800mm water main; about six kilometers of pipe is in place, she said.

"Swim in the beautiful waters of the Atlantic Ocean, off Palm Beach."

Barta said she is working on connections to the local electrical grid, figuring out site locations for new water tanks, and working on routing the water main next to the highway.

This doesn’t leave her much time to catch up on what’s going on back home, although she said her mother mailed an old copy of USA Today, which Barta still reads in the mornings. Stars and Stripes also is readily available. “I am in a (news) vacuum,” she said. “I should have asked her for a thick New York Times Sunday edition.”

At 8:30 p.m. each day, she goes to her private living quarters (“the best in the South,” she said), which consists of a large trailer and a private bath. She doesn’t have a kitchen, so she eats her meals in the large, noisy KBR-run cafeteria. The company also operates a gym on the base, which houses about 5,000 people, including coalition forces from Romania, Italy, Poland and Great Britain.

With her tour of Iraq coming to an end, BC Water News asked Barta what she misses most about home. “My dog, who does not understand why I am not with him, and my 13-year-old daughter, who does understand,” she said.

And her first order of business once she gets back? “Swim in the beautiful waters of the Atlantic Ocean, off Palm Beach.”

June 29, 2005