The services of two of the country's top environmental ninjas, that's what.
That whopping number is what Venable LLC's Kathryn Floyd ($562 per hour) and Jay Johnson ($508 per hour) have billed the Canaveral Port Authority through May 31st of this year for working on the CPA's embattled cargo rail plan. Invoices for June, July and August have not been submitted yet.
It works out to an average of $44,066.76 per month — but ranges from a low of $13,119.40 for 21 days in their first month of employment (June 2014) to a high of $62183.5 the following month.
In an engagement letter dated Jun 9, 2014 to CPA's deputy director and point man for rail, Jim Dubea, Floyd outlined her and Johnson's fees for "regulatory and environmental advice and strategy in connection with the Port’s plans to develop rail service, including review by federal agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act."
In addition to the fees, the Canaveral Port Authority is responsible for:
- Internal photocopy requests in excess of 1,000 pages at $0.10/page
- Out-of-pocket charges. Examples include commercial messenger deliveries, external telephone conferencing services, filing fees, transcripts, outside copying or document management, printing, transportation, meals, and out-of-town lodging. Out-of-pocket charges more than $1000 will be sent directly to you for payment or, if you prefer, we can establish a separate expense retainer that will be held in an escrow account to pay these expenses.
- Paying the costs and expenses of any consultants or witnesses that Venable engages on the CPA's behalf; they are billed separately.
Records pertaining to any of the additional consultant/witness expenses were not readily available but are part of another FOIA request by tedlund.com.
Kathryn Floyd is the Canaveral Port Authority's $568 per hour environmental ninja tasked with helping beat back opposition to its controversial commercial rail plan.
Floyd is a partner in Venable, LLC, a high-profile Washington, D.C.-based law firm that specializes in such matters. Her areas of expertise include transportation, railways, energy, mining and fracking.
From her official Venable bio: "She has extensive experience counseling companies regarding controversial hot-button projects that draw attention from regulatory agencies and outside groups threatening litigation or disruptions. Ms. Floyd consistently helps clients shape strategic responses and catalogue a documented record to minimize risk, advance approvals and, when necessary, beat back lawsuits. Many of these engagements arise when clients’ projects face opposition under environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Stay tuned... there's plenty of more FOIA requests inbound to help document John Walsh's reign of error as the CEO of the Canaveral Port Authority.