Ex-chemical security company chief misused $90K on journeys, renovations and different bills, watchdog says

WASHINGTON — The former head of a federal company that investigates chemical accidents improperly spent greater than $90,000 throughout her tenure, together with unauthorized journeys to and from her California residence, reworking her Washington workplace and outdoors media coaching for herself, based on a brand new report by a federal watchdog.

The report by the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector basic says Katherine Lemos, the previous chair of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, was not entitled to journey bills value almost $50,000 for not less than 18 spherical journeys between the capital and her residence in San Diego from April 2020 by March 2022, when she modified her official office to San Diego.

Lemos took two further spherical journeys between San Diego and Washington from March 2022 till her resignation 4 months later, the report stated. Those journeys value greater than $5,000, however investigators have been unable to find out in the event that they violated federal coverage.

Lemos, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, was dogged by controversy all through her 28-month tenure. For a lot of that point, she was the one particular person serving on what is meant to be a five-member panel.

A September 2022 report by the EPA inspector basic stated the security board was hindered by a scarcity of staffing, management disputes and a backlog of investigations that threatened its capacity to guard individuals and the atmosphere.

Leadership disputes, shoddy inside opinions and reporting backlogs “are impeding the board’s capacity to perform its mission,″ Inspector General Sean O’Donnell stated in an announcement on the time.

The report got here two months after Lemos resigned amid criticism about extravagant spending and inside clashes with different board members. The security board accomplished only one investigation in 2020, three in 2021 and three within the first seven months of 2022, the report stated on the time. At least 17 investigations have been ready to be closed.

In his latest report, launched Thursday, O’Donnell stated Lemos was not entitled to cost of journey bills for stays in Washington or for her journey between the capital and her residence in San Diego.

“Dr. Lemos’s decision to reside in San Diego, more than 2,000 miles from her duty station, was her personal choice, and her travel between San Diego and Washington, D.C., was a personal expense,” the report stated. Lemos couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.

She advised the inspector basic’s workplace that she relied on the recommendation of board employees relating to expense reimbursements. Staff on the security board “had difficulty obtaining clear guidance from the Office of Presidential Personnel” and the Office of Personnel Management on her journey bills, which primarily got here through the COVID-19 pandemic, when many authorities workers have been working from residence, she stated.

Asked why she continued to journey to and from San Diego even after a proper criticism was filed in May 2021, Lemos replied, “I didn’t assume I used to be doing something improper,″ the report stated.

Lemos additionally spent greater than $22,000 to renovate her Washington workplace – regardless of not utilizing it as her common work station, the report stated. The bills far exceeded the $5,000 cap for typical renovations that don’t require prior notification to Congress. The prices included substitute of furnishings that had been bought for an earlier renovation accomplished when the board moved to a brand new workplace in 2015, the report stated,

Lemos advised investigators that her furnishings purchases have been made after consulting with senior employees and her “priority to ensure a safe workplace during the COVID-19 environment for current and incoming board members and staff,” the report stated.

Lemos additionally spent almost $25,000 on outdoors media coaching for herself and greater than $1,200 to journey to Norfolk, Virginia, for a ceremony celebrating a U.S. Navy plane service. A security board ethics official stated the journey was not associated to the company’s official enterprise.

Lemos stated she was invited to the Norfolk ceremony in her capability as security board chair and that different board workers participated in her media coaching.