Department of the Interior

During a recent OIG investigation, we found that the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) has an internal policy that permits authorized senior staff to obtain access to employee emails to ensure “efficient and proper operation of the workplace,” or to search for “suspected misconduct.” We found...

We investigated an allegation that a National Park Service (NPS) employee assisted inmates from a prison work detail to smuggle contraband into a Federal penitentiary.We determined that during the prison work detail at a national park, inmates—whose criminal histories included firearms- and drug...

The OIG investigated allegations that Bronco Utah Operations, LLC (Bronco), a coal mining company based in Utah, improperly removed Federal coal without a lease.We determined that Bronco trespassed into unleased Federal coal deposits that resulted in a loss of public revenues. The Bureau of Land...

We investigated allegations that an oil and gas company unlawfully removed oil from a Federal mineral lease, transported the Federal oil to a Wyoming State lease, and concealed both the production and the transfer of the oil from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).We determined that the alleged...

We investigated whether a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field inspector accepted bribes from an oil and gas exploration company operating on an Indian reservation in exchange for allowing the company to do business on the reservation. We conducted this investigation jointly with the Federal Bureau...

We investigated allegations that an oil and gas company improperly reported oil and gas production from Federal leases to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), which resulted in a loss of public mineral royalties.We found the company failed to properly report production and mineral...

We investigated allegations that an oil and gas company incorrectly adjusted oil and gas reporting and failed to apply the proper pricing for minerals produced from leases in New Mexico, potentially resulting in a loss of royalties.We determined that the alleged conduct occurred outside the 5-year...