Management

GSA Scandal in Perspective: Sex, drugs and minerals

A 2008 inspector general’s report uncovered widespread graft and ethical violations at the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency res...

Federal News Network Staff

April 17, 2012 8:40 pm

< a min read

A 2008 inspector general’s report uncovered widespread graft and ethical violations at the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency responsible for collecting oil and gas royalties.

According to the report, which excoriated the agency’s “culture of ethical failure,” nearly a third of employees in one of the divisions improperly received “a wide array of gifts and gratuities,” from the oil and gas companies the agency was ostensibly designed to regulate. Several staff members also admitted to illegal drug use and illicit sexual encounters, both among staff and with industry contacts.

Employees also violated rules governing post-employment restrictions and “manipulated” the contracting process by sharing bids with competitors.

At least one MMS official pleaded guilty to felony conflict-of-interest charges. Similar allegations of misconduct at a Lousiana MMS office surfaced in the Gulf region just as outrage about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was building. Following the aftermath of the oil spill, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed a directive reorganizing the office and renaming it the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

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