Federal Reports

Based on concerns expressed to the Office of the Inspector General, we initiated an inspection of TVA's easement with the Tishomingo County Development Foundation (TCDF). The objective of the review was to determine whether easement payments were made in accordance with the agreement. We found that while TCDF was not in compliance with amended easement payment provisions, the payment provisions were recently amended for the second time to provide the developer, Pickwick Pines Marina (PPM), an opportunity to develop and operate the marina. We also noted that the minimum investment provision of the easement has not been met. On August 6, 2008, TCDF sent PPM a notice of default.

We reviewed certain Browns Ferry Unit 1 (BFN U1) operating issues that have occurred since the restart in May 2007. We found the operating issues were primarily caused by improper installation of a fitting during the restart project and another fitting during initial construction, original plant design errors, failure to identify the correct root cause of a previous issue in a timely manner, and failure to identify a missing wood support during walkdowns. The root causes for the SCRAMs (safety control rod axe man) appear to not be the result of work performed under project milestones tied to the Unit One Executive Compensation plan. In addition, we found the total cost of the BFN U1 project to be approximately $1.8 billion through fiscal year 2007.

At the request of the Chief of Police (Chief), the Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a review to determine if the Department complied with its directive to conduct periodic criminal history checks to ensure that United States Capitol Police (USCP) employees had not engaged in criminal conduct that could be detrimental to their employment. OIG conducted this review to determine whether (1) the 42 employees with criminal history prior to their employment with USCP fully disclosed that history during the pre-employment screening process, (2) the Department fully vetted such disclosed information during the pre-employment screening process, and (3) the 16 employees with criminal complaints during their employment with USCP complied with USCP directives, which requires the employee to report incidents through their cognizant chain of command.

Consistent with the partnership between the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the United States Capitol Police (USCP or the Department) to improve financial management and reporting at the Department and in preparation of the fiscal year 2008 financial statement audit, OIG contracted with Cotton and Company to conduct agreed-upon procedures solely to assist in evaluating the recorded book value of property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) accounts, and related accumulated depreciation as of September 30, 2007.