From: | Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org> |
Date: | Mon, 03 Feb 1997 17:16:13 -0800 (PST) |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | RMA Cleanup Billing In Question |
The following article appeared in the Sunday (2/1/97) edition of the Denver Post. Aimee Houghton ************* ARMY ROLE LAX IN ARSENAL BILLING Cleanup poor, but public paid, study says by Adriel Bettlheim "The U.S. Army's lax supervision of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal cleanup allowed Shell Oil Co. to bill federal taxpayers for hundreds of thousands of dollars of projects that didn't remove any pollution and for $3.1 million in unsupported expenditures, a new government study concludes. The U.S. General Accounting Office found that inadequate accounting controls led the Army to pass on to taxpayers a series of questionable or unsupported expenses. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo. one of three members of Congress to demand the study, was highly critical of the Army and demanded an explanation for the GAO's findings. "Taxpayers deserve and demand more from the Army than having them hold open the hen house door while the fox cleans it out, " Campbell said. In one instance, the report said, taxpayers picked up $670,000 in Shell's construction costs for a ne office building at the Superfund site, and paid the company's local property taxes for some pollution equipment. The Army couldn't document why the company didn't pick up any of the tab. Taxpayers also paid $481,000 of Shell's public relations expenses, including a picture book of wildlife that populate the arsenal, promotional bald eagle pencils and a Bald Eagle Day. In all, the GAO found 31 items totaling 3.1 million that packed propoer documentation. Some other transactions involving environmental work also weren't properly documented, though the GAO said they may not have been improper. For instance, the GAO found Shell inexplicably got taxpayers to pay half the cost of a $4 million parcel of land the company purchased between Interstate 76 and the Denver International Airport. The purchase allowed the Army to perform groundwater treatment activities immediately north of the arsenal. Army and Shell officials said the company was able to purchase the land faster than th Army would have been able to. Yet the transaction allows Shell to keep the land, which is suitable for commercial development, the study said. "The Army's review of costs to be shared with Shell has been minimal," the GAO concluded. "Our work showed that additional documentation is available in most cases and could have been reviewed by the Army." The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, recommended the Army tighten its accounting system but stopped short of calling on Shell to make any financial reimbursements. The study was commissioned by Campbell and Reps. Dan Schaefer, R-Colo., and John Dingell, D-Mich., after the Denver Post in 1995 reported numerous questionable costs related to the cleanup. Campbell yesterday demanded that Army Inspector General Lt. Gen. Jared Bates find out what went wrong and report back by May 1. He added the Senate may hold investigative hearings into the costs. The Army told the GAO it operated in an atmosphere of trust with Shell, adding it didn't think it had the right to meddle in the company's business with its subcontractors. A spokeswoman yesterday downplayed the seriousness of the findings. "They suggested some procedural changes, but didn't find any financial improprieties," Army spokeswoman Ruth Mecham said. "The Army and Shell worked a long time with the GAO reviewing the matter." Shell said the documentation it provided was sufficient to review cost claims. "The conclusion that these costs lack the necessary backup is unfounded in Shell's view," arsenal site manager W.J. McKinney said in a written response to the study. The Army and Shell contaminated the 17,000 acre arsenal for 35 years, turning it into one of America's most polluted sites. The Army made chemical weapons while Shell produced herbicides and pesticides. Under a 1989 federal court agreement, the Army and Shell are splitting the costs of cleaning up the site. The total cost is expected to exceed $2 billion. Costs so far have totaled $700 million. The GAO reviewed a total of 153 Shell spending items. The Denver Post, after a two-year battle, obtained 15,000 pages of recodsd showing Shell had taxpayers pay for an $8,888 one-day meeting in Aspen and three trips costing at least $5,000 to the company's international headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands." | |
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