In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, civilian workers at New Jersey’s Naval Weapons Station Earle used the base’s money to buy ceramic tile, molding and toilet partitions for their personal houses and exploited overtime pay — with some putting in and being approved for 24-hour work shifts during the disaster.
In addition, the base’s public works department is plagued with nepotism and mismanagement, and is under the supervision of a woman who handles heavy ammunition and explosives despite being fitted with a heart defibrillator, which, by Navy standards, automatically disqualifies her from the job.
These are a few of the findings uncovered in a May 2014 Judge Advocate General investigation into the operations of Naval Weapons Station Earle obtained by The Washington Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Other charges investigated in the report include heavy equipment like a metal-shearing machine going missing from the base, union overcharges and employee harassment, such as having an individual’s workplace trashed. The work environment was so toxic, the report found, that one dispute escalated into unsubstantiated charges of drinking on the job .
“Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC, Mid-Atlantic (MIDLANT) conducted a command investigation into Management and Safety Practices at Public Works Department Earle,” the 42-page JAG report explains. “Based on the evidence collected, it appears that the EDP Program at PWD Earle has been mismanaged for years.”
The report continued: “Based on the evidence reviewed, it appears that the management of over time at PWD Earle during Hurricane Sandy was nonexistent” and that “there is a consistent pattern of mischarging labor, material and tools at PWD Earle.”
For diverting taxpayer money to private use, cases of nepotism and other dubious hirings, mismanagement and maintenance of a toxic work environment, Naval Weapons Station Earle wins this week’s Golden Hammer, a weekly distinction given by The Washington Times highlighting examples of wasteful federal spending.
Watchdog groups outraged
“The kind of stuff we are talking about in this report should not only bring firings but potentially criminal charges,” said Leslie Paige, vice president for policy and communications at the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste, who was briefed on the report. “We’re talking about people’s lives being at stake.”
A source close to the JAG investigation, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, told The Washington Times that while management continues to turn a blind eye to the problem, nearby residents in Colts Neck, New Jersey, are being endangered.
The main mission at Earle is to load massive ammunition onto and off of Navy ships docked at the base’s waterfront port in Leonardo at Sandy Hook beach. The large weapons and explosives are loaded using huge industrial cranes.
In the report, investigators detailed several safety concerns surrounding the base’s crane supervisor. It’s her job to be able to operate all cranes at the base, but, according to the report, she was unqualified for the position because she was fitted with a heart defibrillator that precludes her from holding a commercial driver’s license. On top of being at risk, some of the ammunition she handles may interfere with her device.
The JAG report found the operator falsified documentation — medical records, according to the source — in an attempt to renew her crane operator’s license.
At stake is the risk of mishandling the ammunition while transferring it from ship to shore, with the potential of causing a massive explosion. In the last week alone, the crane supervisor has had two accidents, according to the insider.
The crane supervisor declined to comment for this story.
The deputy public works officer at Earle also declined to comment on why the supervisor has held her position despite the JAG report’s recommendation she step down.
In an email to The Times, a spokeswoman for Sen. Cory A. Booker, New Jersey Democrat, said that the allegations in the report were “troubling,” and that Mr. Booker would be reviewing the report further.
“The issues raised in this report are troubling and demand further scrutiny, and Sen. Booker and his staff are carefully reviewing the details. Sen. Booker will always work to hold accountable anyone who is wasting taxpayer dollars or threatening public safety,” spokeswoman Silvia Alvarez said.
Thomas Kreidel, a spokesman for NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic command in Norfolk, which oversees the public works department at Earle, told The Times in an email that command has reviewed the findings of the report and is implementing changes to fix the problems identified in the report.
“The Navy and NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic take allegations of this nature very seriously, and NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic performed a thorough investigation,” Mr. Kreidel said.
Superstorm Sandy
During Superstorm Sandy, numerous employees in the public works department were paid for 24 hours of overtime on more than one occasion while other employees took excessive amounts of administrative leave, according to the JAG report.
“Administrative leave is to be used for short periods and normally does not extend beyond 3 days,” the report states.
But two employees were given over a week of administrative leave and had their time adjusted by a supervisor to fix the problem. The workers submitted prior pay corrections to have their administrative leave changed to sick leave. One employee charged 169 hours of administrative leave from Oct. 30 through Nov. 29, 2012, but later adjusted the time, changing 98 hours of administrative leave to sick leave.
The command is pursuing corrective and disciplinary actions for those found in violation of proper overtime procedures, said Mr. Kreidel.
Scott Amey, legal counsel with the Project on Government Oversight, said it was troubling to see federal employees still abusing the system during natural disasters, noting that the same issues occurred following hurricanes Andrew and Katrina.
“It’s unfortunate because you end up with money that’s being spent for projects or items or goods and services that’s wasteful spending, and it’s not reaching the desired beneficiaries,” Mr. Amey said.
Employees also used federal charge cards to purchase items that were not approved under work orders — most likely to help rebuild their homes after Hurricane Sandy.
For example, employees in the crane department charged $10,000 under tree-trimming work orders to pay for wood blinds and masonry drill bits, according to the report. A separate work order for clearing the roads had $9,500 in charges including ceramic tiling, grout floats, molding and a bathroom partition.
“It sounds to me like abusive federal employees that have declared war on the taxpayers,” Ms. Paige said.
Missing equipment
Record-keeping was so sloppy at Earle that some scrapped or damaged equipment was not properly recorded as such and, for lengthy periods, the equipment was listed as missing and potentially stolen.
Even though criminal investigators were called in and eventually were able to determine the truth, they had to spend time doing so while, according to sources, real cases of theft were going on.
In June 2012 and again in June 2013, Navy auditors reported multiple pieces of valuable equipment missing from the public works department at Earle.
In 2012 hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment was reported missing, including a hydraulic press ($85,000), a metal lathe ($95,000) and “several” milling machines ($35,000 per machine), according to the report.
All of those items are heavy pieces of industrial equipment, many of which must be moved using a crane.
A second inventory was conducted in 2013, and again, nearly $200,000 worth of equipment was reported missing.
Over the course of a year, the public works department racked up more than a half-million dollars in reportedly missing assets.
“The unaccounted-for property was referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. After an initial investigation, it was determined not to be a criminal issue and was referred back to command for program management action,” Mr. Kreidel said.
According to Mr. Kreidel, the 23 items listed missing in the report were no longer needed or damaged and had been disposed of through the installation recycling program, but were not documented. Two of the items had to be replaced.
However, more recently, two valuable 100-foot ship-to-shore cables have mysteriously disappeared from the public works department, according to the confidential source.
The massive cables are used to power up ships docked at the port. The source told The Times it is believed that employees have taken the cables to cut them up for their valuable copper.
“Those cables weigh so much, how were those cables transported? In order for you to lift them, you need a crane to put them in a cage to transport them out,” the source said.
Mr. Kreidel said that instance is currently under investigation.
“There is potentially criminal activity here, and if that’s the case, then an IG report is the least of our worries,” Ms. Paige said. “We should be looking at litigating, prosecuting and even indicting some of these employees. There’s clearly potential for criminality here.”
A lot of the mismanagement and abuse at Earle stems from a culture that breeds favoritism through nepotism, according to the JAG report and the confidential source.
The report found that there were many cases of improper hiring and promotions for family members, allowing friends and family to approve unauthorized overtime or administrative leave.
“Reports like these are important because they highlight the fact that abuse and mismanagement are still going on, and they can wreak havoc, even in a small department with just one or two people, and that appears to be what has happened here,” Ms. Paige said.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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