WASHINGTON  -  U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) and U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent today reacted to the release of the Department of Interior Inspector General report on the decision to close the U.S. Geologic Survey’s Rolla-based Mid-Continent Mapping Center.

 

“I’m dismayed that the facts of what is obviously happening here do not play a part in the
investigatory process,” Emerson said.  “Rolla’s facility, its qualifications, and its employees are being excluded from a fair consideration.  Here’s what we know: Rolla is a cost-effective site, it has the infrastructure to meet or exceed the standards of other sites, and it is supported by an unmatched network of public and private affiliates.  Yet the decision to close the doors at Rolla was made in the dark, and the outcome of the process is totally unsupported by the criteria chosen by USGS.”

 

“This is a classic Washington report,” said U.S. Senator Jim Talent. “It says USGS managers failed to justify the decision. It says they failed to be effective or transparent in their rationale. And then it says USGS can do whatever they want. We appreciate that the Inspector General agrees with us that USGS did virtually nothing to justify this recommendation. But their decision to look the other way is reckless.”