Investigation of a Senior Park Official for Violating Contracting Procedures

Our investigation found that a senior official at the C&O Canal National Historical Park in Hagerstown, MD, violated agency contracting procedures when he pursued the installation of geothermal energy units using a local contractor with whom he had a prior business relationship. In addition, other senior park staff previously used this same contractor to install geothermal energy units at their personal residences. 

 

The senior park official did not consult with the supporting Major Acquisition Buying Office (MABO) and arranged for the contractor to conduct a site visit and prepare a scope of work for the installation of the geothermal units. The official submitted the contractor’s work specifications verbatim to MABO to use in the solicitation and awarding of the contract.

 

Originally unknown to the senior park official, the contractor who conducted the site visit and prepared the scope of work was not eligible to bid on the contract, and the park ultimately canceled the requisition. 

 

We found no evidence that the official committed a criminal offense, so we did not refer our findings to a U.S. Attorney’s Office. On July 12, 2016, NPS informed us that official was verbally counselled for his actions.