According to
Problems with BP Oil Spill Response Plan Outsourcing http://www.opednews.com/articles/Problems-with-BP-Oil-Spill-by-Elaine-Cullen-100620-158.htmlThe Response Group is the one who included walruses and the dead environmental guy in the response plan. The Response Group is also the one coordinating the response in the Gulf.
Another interesting fact is that FEMA wasn't the one who ran the response team for Katrina. FEMA outsourced it to Innovative Emergency Management. Every single aspect of the recovery Innovative then outsourced to hundreds of subcontractors. The reason the buses didn't get to the SuperDome, it was contracted out to a subcontractor who didn't get the word from anyone. Same with all that bottled water, it belonged to a subcontractor who wasn't told what to do.
in addition:
The reconstruction efforts in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast were primarily outsourced from the government, to predominantly non-governmental organizations, often faith based ones, with disastrous effect.
In a congressional hearing, Homeland Security head, Chertoff was questioned about the post Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts by Representative Cynthia McKinney, D - Georgia, who asked why when she pulled up the FEMA website she saw the organization "Operation Blessing" listed there.
Chertoff said that a "pivotal part of the response was from faith-based organizations, and that these faith based organizations should be reimbursed if reimburseable."
The article goes on to say
The problems with outsourcing the planning and response to emergencies has been evident with both Hurricane Katrina and with the BP oil spill. However, this is not the only type of emergency response planning that is being outsourced by the U.S. government.
IEM, the company that did the hurricane emergency response planning for Southeast Louisiana and New Orleans used during Hurricane Katrina, was recently awarded a five year contract with the U.S. Army. The contract, which could value $485 million, calls for IEM to support research and development of defense chemical biological radiological nuclear explosive, or CBRNE, systems at the Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland. CBRNE systems include the development of technologies, techniques, and strategies for dealing with possible biological, chemical or radiation attacks, as described by IEM president and CEO Madhu Beriwal.
Hopefully that dead environmental guy isn't again chosen to be part of the recovery plan from any biological attack.