GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY, Wash. -- The Grays Harbor PUD got official notice Thursday that many of its claims for reimbursement of emergency spending are being denied for failure to follow federal regulations. The letter came from the state military department which coordinates emergency response.

On December 3, 2007, winds as high as 150 miles per hour hit the county. The trees couldn't take it. Power lines couldn't take it.

So the county Public Utility District pulled out all the stops and hired power crews wherever they could.

"We did what we thought was right to take care of our ratepayers; and, it was an emergency situation," said commission president Jim Eddy.

"They did get the power on quickly; we commend them for that, but there are procedures they have to go through. They have to take bids, they have to have a written contract," said Diana Siefert of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Siefert says the problem of acting without a contract or bids was not just in the first few days. She said the practice continued for a month.

The PUD says one week after the windstorm hit the commission adopted a resolution which suspended bidding requirements. PUD insists FEMA representatives were aware of that action.

The letter received in Aberdeen, in effect, says: where the PUD didn't take bids, FEMA can't reimburse. The letter also tells the PUD it can appeal.

"That's almost $6 million of the ratepayers money," said Eddy. "They are taxpayers of the United States, their tax dollars go for FEMA, the 'E' is for 'emergency.'"

For Grays Harbor, December was disaster time. In looking at the mess, it's hard not to think of an old gag line: "When you are up to your neck in alligators, you forget the task was to drain the swamp." The PUD says computers didn't work, most phones were out, they were up to the neck in problems so they just acted.

KOMO 4 News asked FEMA whether some people might say of FEMA, when you are up to your neck in regulations, might you forget the task is to help people? Not so, FEMA said.

"(We) don't think we are up to our neck in regulations. The rules are rather simple, they're rather simple," Siefert said.

The state military department agrees, saying most governmental districts did follow procedures. The department says Grays Harbor was not the only agency which appears to have violated the contracting rules.

The PUD says it will appeal to the state military division and then, if necessary, to FEMA. If that doesn't work, the PUD says it will seek help from our state's U.S. Senators and Representatives.

The PUD says an appeal will take up to a year. There will be no immediate impact on ratepayers because the PUD paid the bills from reserve accounts.