The Department of Energy inspector general has “potential concerns” about agency oversight of $500,000 in grant money awarded to a regional group that promotes economic development around the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
That is the assessment offered in a July 2 memorandum from Deputy Inspector General Michelle Anderson to DOE Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar on financial issues connected with the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities.
“A separate inspection is in process to assess the use of grant funds by RCLC,” Anderson said in the memo made public Monday. The document did not offer details on DOE oversight concerns.
On Sept. 30, 2015, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center awarded the RCLC a five-year, $500,000 grant to “promote environmental protection, economic development, and regional planning,” according to the IG. The federal money also allowed the organization to study the impact of state and federal legislative and policy changes on its members.
The coalition is comprised of local government and tribal officials from areas around the DOE national laboratory. It typically gets half of its $200,000 annual budget from local members, with the rest coming from the Energy Department.
The RCLC faces scrutiny over its travel reimbursement policy and record-keeping under former executive director Andrea Romero, who is now a state representative in New Mexico. The RCLC board did not renew her contract in February 2018 after she led the group for four years.
An August 2018 report from the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor criticized the RCLC and Romero over reimbursements for expensive meals, alcoholic beverages, and tickets to a Washington Nationals baseball game.
The New Mexico attorney general’s office says it continues to review RCLC for any potential criminal violations.
Questions have also been raised as to whether any DOE grant money was improperly used for lobbying. The Albuquerque Journal reported last month the department’s grand funding has been suspended until the inspector general review is complete.
On Monday, current RCLC Executive Director Eric Vasquez said the suspension affects the final year of the five-year grant, but he feels confident the coalition will again receive DOE funding once the probes are complete.
