FEMA isn't exactly doing a heckuva job on its contracts.
The disaster agency spent twice as much as it needed to for a building in Tennessee that smelled like sewage and had insects, roaches and bullet casings strewn over its floors, according to Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's report conducted by Foxx and Company.
The building was in such bad shape and so full of potentially harmful chemicals that one FEMA employee who ended up working there developed a rash that lasted for 3 months. A cleaning company told FEMA they'd need $1.2 million just to clean it up.
These problems and others — including wasting $3 million on Pedialyte that expired and buying mobile surgery units that were never used — were discovered in a damning investigation into an agency that has had its share of public relations problems since Hurricane Katrina. The report is dated Feb. 3, but had not been previously made public.
The biggest problem revolves around the FEMA facility in Brentwood, Tenn., that FEMA leased after a series of disasters. When federal officials went to Tennessee, they didn't call a commercial real estate agent or look at available space online. Instead, two of them drove around Nashville in a car looking for a new office. When the government sent inspectors to look at the building they found, the inspection was conducted during the night with flashlights because there was no electricity. The water was off, and so was the heat and air conditioning.
FEMA officials reject these findings, blaming it on the General Services Administration, which is the government's real estate broker.
"FEMA does not have the authority to enter into or negotiate lease agreements in support of a presidential declaration," the report says. "FEMA stated that GSA is the principal agency responsible for leasing authority."
FEMA paid $122,000 to rent the building for less than three months, the boiler caused so many problems that "someone had to watch it 24/7 so it would not explode or crack," the Inspector General report says. The drinking water wasn't potable, so the disaster agency had to truck in bottled water. A senior official who wanted to visit the office was told not to come because so many employees were sick. Sewage leaks sent workers home in the middle of the day. Adjacent rooms were filled with debris and some sections of it were roped off because of possible chemical contamination.
The lease required the government to pay all maintenance and utility costs—a type of lease the agency had never signed before, a FEMA official told investigators. The government spent $607,000 on operating, maintenance and repair expenses for a total cost of $729,000—nearly twice the cost of the $344,000 for a nearby building that offered a full-service lease.
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