The Obama administration used economic stimulus money to pay for 50 airport projects that didn’t meet the grant criteria and approved projects at four airports with a history of mismanaging federal grants, a government watchdog said Monday.
Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel said he plans to examine the Federal Aviation Administration’s process for selecting programs for the $1.1 billion in grant money.
Among the projects that Scovel said didn’t meet the FAA’s minimum score was $14 million that went to Akiachak, Alaska, a town of 659 residents, to replace its airfield. The town has a seaplane and is only 14 nautical miles from the state’s fourth busiest airport.
Nearly $15 million went to another Alaskan town, Ouzinkie, that has 167 residents, to replace its gravel runway. The town has a float-plane landing area in its harbor. Barges also provide cargo delivery from Kodiak, 10 miles away.
Other projects Scovel said didn’t meet FAA’s threshold were $4.8 billion for a new taxiway in Findlay, Ohio; $2.2 million for a runway extension at Wilbur Airport in Washington, $2 million for an apron at Warrensburg-Skyhaven Airport in Missouri, and $909,806 to design a new runway at a small airport near Dover, Del. He said those airports don’t provide commercial passenger service and have limited flight operations.
“According to FAA, the Dover project was chosen because it was the state’s only project that was ‘ready to go,’” Scovel said in a letter to the department.
Scovel also cited four grants to recipients that have a history of mismanaging government money, “raising doubts about their ability to ensure (stimulus) funds are effectively administered.” The four grantees are Guam International Airport Authority, Owensboro-Daviess County, Ky.; Pitkin County, Colo., and Puerto Rico Port Authority.
Owensboro-Daviess County, for example, received $658,730 despite reports citing its poor administration of federal airport funds for 10 of the past 11 years, Scovel said.