Department of the Interior OIG

The OIG investigated an allegation that a DOI grant official had a conflict of interest because she owned a consulting company that assisted people in obtaining grants.We found no evidence of a conflict of interest. The official’s consulting company had no revenue, clients, or employees; the...

We investigated allegations that James Milestone, Superintendent of California’s Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WHIS), National Park Service (NPS), solicited donations and inappropriately collected funds for the park partner organization Friends of Whiskeytown (FOW). We also investigated...

The October 2018 Semiannual Report to Congress summarizes the Office of Inspector General’s successful work completed from April 1, 2018, through September 30, 2018, to promote excellence, integrity, and accountability within the programs, operations, and management of the U.S. Department of the...

The OIG investigated allegations that employees of Energy Resource Technology, Inc. (ERT) falsified Blowout Preventer (BOP) pressure test charts and engaged in unsafe welding operations while conducting oil and gas activities aboard an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico.We found that the ERT...

The OIG investigated allegations that a former Government employee of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) violated Federal post-employment restrictions by communicating with current NIGC employees regarding a management agreement that the Government employee was involved in while working...

We completed a verification review of Recommendations 2 and 3 presented in our September 2016 evaluation report titled “U.S. Department of the Interior’s Internal Controls for Purchase Cards and Fleet Cards” (2015-ER-011). Our objective was to determine whether the U.S. Department of the Interior...

The OIG investigated allegations that tribal officials manipulated statistical reports they submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to influence the amount of Federal funding received by the tribe. We also investigated allegations that tribal officials distributed Federal grant funds to...

The OIG audited the costs claimed by the State of Nebraska’s Game and Parks Commission, under grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. The audit included claims totaling $46.9 million on 115 grants that were open during the...

On behalf of the National Park Service (NPS), we conducted a quality control review (QCR) of an independent public accountant’s (IPA) fiscal year 2016 single audit of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, an NPS grantee. The purpose of our QCR was to determine whether the IPA performed the...

The OIG investigated allegations that a lease operator may have submitted false Oil and Gas Operations Reports (OGOR) to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) to avoid paying plugging and abandonment costs for a well.We found that from May 2015 to January 2017 the lease operator did not...