Feds Will Conduct Audit of $300 Million Sandy Recovery Grant for PATH

In the world of federal bureaucracy, there are often watchmen watching the watchmen.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General announced that it will be conducting an audit of one of its own agencies – the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) – in connection with a $310 million relief package to Port Authority Trans‑Hudson Corporation (PATH)

The new audit will be focused on the “Salt Mitigation of Tunnels Project,” which aims to repair salt water damage caused by the hurricane.

Hoboken station was among the hardest hit during the 2012 storm, and was flooded with thousands of gallons of water. [See related Patch article]

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has already conducted multiple audits of other aspects of the $479 million grant given to the PATH.

According to a memo from Mary Kay Langan-Feirson, assistant inspector general for acquisition and procurement audits at the DOT:

“Our audit objective is to evaluate whether FTA’s oversight is adequate to verify that PATH’s grant procurement practices for the Salt Mitigation of Tunnels Project are in accordance with Federal requirements. We are conducting this audit as part of our DRAA mandate to support oversight of FTA’s Hurricane Sandy relief funding under its Emergency Relief Program.”