Dale Jones authorized the destruction of more than 100 files at law enforcement headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., during the investigation of his department last year, according to Commerce IG Todd Zinser. The allegations came to light yesterday during two hearings in the House and Senate on fisheries enforcement.
"It was not authorized by me, and when I informed NOAA leadership of what we found, they did not say they authorized it either," Zinser said of the shredding. "I was surprised by it. What came to my mind is, I wonder what the office of law enforcement would do if a fishing company they were investigating had done the same thing?"
Zinser is conducting a new investigation of Jones' actions, which he said should be completed within one month. He said that Jones has told him the document destruction was a routine attempt to clear away old files and had been planned for more than a year.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said she would hold off on personnel action until the new investigation is complete — the course of action Zinser recommended to her. But she said she is "quite concerned" about the document destruction, which she just learned of Monday.
"I do think it does not look good," Lubchenco said yesterday.
Jones's office was already under fire after the IG found "systemic, nationwide" issues plaguing the fisheries enforcement program.
The report from the IG in January said law enforcement officers have created a "highly charged regulatory climate," especially in the Northeast, with strict enforcement of complicated laws that commercial fishers find hard to follow. Ninety percent of NOAA's law enforcement staff are criminal investigators, even though most fisheries' infractions are misdemeanors.
An investigation more than 10 years ago found similar problems with NOAA fisheries enforcement, but the problems persisted. Lubchenco said she could not comment on why, since that report came before her time.
Senate Oceans and Fisheries Subcommittee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) encouraged Lubchenco to dig deeper to investigate the response, or lack thereof, to the last report — a recommendation Lubchenco said she would take to heart.
"I think you'll find that the same issues why those recommendations were not implemented will be the same reasons why these won't be, as well," Cantwell said. "We don't want to do another report in a few years and find the same issues. These are cultural barriers in an organization that need to be broken down. Until we find out what those are, we cannot move forward."
The most recent investigation came at Lubchenco's request after she heard complaints from fishers and lawmakers about fisheries enforcement. Zinser said he thinks she will fight to address the problems, noting that she could have called for a lower-key internal NOAA audit, but took the issue to him.
"It was my view then and continues to be that [Lubchenco] wants to know the underlying problems and fix them," Zinser said.