A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) program that allowed important energy-related data to be manipulated improperly for nearly two decades hasn’t been independently reviewed in 17 years, according to documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Survey officials promised in March, 2015, they would undergo such a review, but it still hasn’t been done.
A Lakewood, Colo., lab, which was part of the agency’s Energy Resources Program (ERP), manipulated the data from 1996 to 2014. The effects of the distorted data are as yet unknown, but “will be serious and far ranging,” the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General (IG) reported in 2014.
Officials in charge of ERP should request “an outside, reputable organization to periodically review ERP’s overall mission and operations,” the IG subsequently recommended.
“The ERP is currently seeking a cost-effective outside, reputable organization to review the efficiency and effectiveness of ERP’s operations, including ERP-funded laboratories,” USGS Director Suzette Kimball assured the IG in March, 2015.
Yet a 1999 report was obtained by TheDCNF via a Freedom of Information Act request for the most recent review of ERP, meaning the program hasn’t been externally evaluated since then, despite Kimball’s claim.
“ERP’s only previous comprehensive program review was in 1999 by the National Academy of Sciences,” the IG previously wrote.
It’s possible an outside review is in progress – two years after the data manipulation ended, and more than a year since the search for an external auditor began – but USGS did not respond to a request for comment.
The Lakewood lab did, however, undergo an external audit in 2012 while data manipulation was ongoing. The distortion led to the lab’s closure March 1. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Congressman Says Fed Lab Closure For Data Manipulation Is ‘Suspicious’)
“The resulting report identified 29 deficiencies, and ERP developed an action plan to correct the issues,” the IG said. The deficiencies were supposed to be resolved by June, 2014, but 11 remained by that deadline.
The IG also completed an inspection of the lab in June – a significantly less comprehensive evaluation with less consequences than an audit or investigation.
The 18 years of data manipulation was carried out by two analysts, first from 1996 to 2008, then from 2008 to 2014. The first analyst resigned during an investigation. USGS refuses to reveal who, if anyone, has been punished for either incident.
The analysts manipulated calibrations when studying various samples provided to the lab regarding a range of energy-related topics, including uranium in the environment and U.S. coal resources. The distortion affected an estimated $108 million worth of research, according to the IG.
USGS knew about the manipulation long before it was stopped, and waited even longer to tell the lab’s customers, TheDCNF previously reported. Much of the backup data was also destroyed.
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