Past managers at Big Bend National Park spent roughly $140,000 on HVAC units that they never installed/OIG

It gets woefully hot in West Texas during the summer months, with temperatures routinely in the mid-90s and a hot, glaring sun shining down on Big Bend National Park staff and visitors alike. Yet while park staff five years ago invested a quarter-million dollars in air-conditioning units for offices and shade shelters for campgrounds, the equipment was never installed, according to an Inspector General's investigation.

Park managers nevertheless signed off on the projects as being completed, the investigation added.

The resulting report paints a disturbing portrait of lax business practices and poor oversight at Big Bend. It also begs the question of whether park staff could have better spent the $250,000 on some of the park's backlogged maintenance, which totaled nearly $90 million in Fiscal 2018.

While the purchases of $140,117 worth of HVAC units and $115,000 for shade structures were properly made back in FYl 2013, 2014, and 2015, the units and materials were stored away and never installed, the investigation concluded.

"We asked why they were never installed if the (HVAC) units are still usable for their intended purpose, and the facilities manager told us that she was hesitant to replace units while the old ones still worked, further calling into question the need for the purchases," the investigators noted. 

Park staff reported that the HVAC equipment had been used when in fact some of it was stored outside and some in warehouse space.

"Final comments on individual projects included statements such as, 'work completed-new units!!!' and 'new energy efficient units!!!' The former superintendent certified these projects as complete in the (Project Management Information System), but there is no indication of any oversight or review of their actual completeness other than the former park superintendent’s digital signature, the report issued Wednesday stated.

The materials for the shade shelters, meanwhile, sat unused because park staff needed outside help to install them, "and that other aspects of the campground rehabilitation, such as filling and grading for erosion control, exhausted funds that otherwise could have been used to construct the shelters," the investigators were told.

Park records nevertheless indicated that the shelters had been installed during FY 2018.

"The former superintendent digitally signed off on the completion report in the PMIS, but there is no indication of further oversight. While the shade shelters are intended for outdoor use and as such may still be usable, they cannot fulfill their intended purpose of protecting visitors from harsh weather conditions until installed," the OIG investigators reported.

Steel purchased for shade shelters also was never utilized, the OIG found.

Also lacking from park records was whether any competitive bidding had occurred for the shelters' installation.

"We asked the facilities manager if she had solicited any bids for installation, and she said she had sought 'ballpark quotes' from companies that were onsite for the other portions of the rehabilitation project. She could not provide records of any solicitation," the report noted.

As a result of this poor management, the OIG report said, $250,000 that could have been better spent "addressing more immediate deferred maintenance needs or other park priorities," was wasted.

Bob Krumenaker, who took over as Big Bend superintendent in September 2018, began investigating the purchases soon after the Office of Inspector General was alerted in April 2019 to the apparent misspending.

"The moment we were notified by the OIG that this situation was alleged we jumped on it. We were fully cooperative with the investigation,” he said Wednesday afternoon.

Krumenaker's investigation turned up that the HVAC units were the wrong size and couldn't be used. As for the shade shelter materials, they also were the wrong items for the intended purpose, he said.

"Potentially, they could be turned into something else," the superintendent said, adding, however, that he didn't know what they might be used for.

It's possible the park might be able to send the HVAC units to other government operations that could use them.

“There were significant lapses in accountability in this park, for sure," Krumenaker said. "It was a huge concern and it was one of the highest priorities in the 16 months that I’ve been here to change the culture and change the processes so something like this can never happen again.”

The OIG report recommended that the park improve its managerial oversight and see if it can't use or dispose of the equipment "to address the $255,117 in funds that could have been put to better use."