Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 23, 1993 TAG: 9308230094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The General Accounting Office said in a report Sunday that of the more than $200 million spent out of the restoration funds so far, little of the money has been awarded through competitive bids and much of it has gone to federal and state programs.
As reported in a review of documents last week by The Associated Press, the GAO study also described finding in its investigation that most of the money paid by Exxon Corp. so far has gone to reimburse state and federal governments, legal fees, administrative costs and to pay back Exxon for cleanup work.
"The same agencies - and sometimes the same individuals - that recommend a project for funding also approve and carry out the project," the GAO report said, adding that there have been no independent financial reviews or audits into the use of the Exxon money.
The GAO investigation was requested by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who has criticized the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council for not spending enough money on acquiring land to protect natural resources, including birds and sea life, damaged by the spill.
"Instead, the bureaucrats gave top priority to feathering their own nests with reimbursements and gold-plated studies of questionable merit," Miller said.
The trustee council that decides how the restoration money is to be spent is made up of representatives of three federal agencies - Interior, U.S. Forest Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - and the Alaska departments of environmental conservation and of fish and game and the state attorney general.
by CNB