Storage facilities mismanaged by the Environmental Protection Agency cost taxpayers nearly $9 million, according to a government watchdog.
The EPA’s inspector general reviewed eight storage facilities owned or leased by the EPA, which held facilities-management contracts worth nearly $50 million.
“The EPA staff seemed to indicate an attitude of ‘let’s store all items regardless,’ instead of ‘let’s store items that we can control,’ ” the IG said in a report made public Monday.
Such waste of space and property directly counteracts the EPA’s mission by storing “unnecessary items that can be recycled” and the environmental affects related to the upkeep of warehouse space, according to the IG.
“The EPA did not have effective controls to ensure efficient use of its property,” the report read.
The inefficient management of storage space violated a 1949 law that requires federal agencies to maintain inventory control. Additionally, one EPA office was specifically responsible for providing space management and real property disposal, according to the IG report.
Stored items, such as sofas, computers, and VCRs were not transferred or disposed of, despite General Services Administration guidelines. Some unused refrigerators had been in storage since 2007.
Previous IG reports dating to 2009 revealed other property-related issues for the EPA, including $1 million worth of computers yet to be properly accounted. A May 2013 investigation resulted in the EPA’s release of three of a warehouse’s five storage bays, which saved approximately $2.2 million dollars over five years.
The IG recommended that EPA consolidate as many of its 62 owned and leased storage facilities as possible. Two of the contracted facilities managers, who were paid nearly $3 million by the EPA, were found participating in unauthorized activities, including storing, and possibly using, exercise equipment.
