House subcommittees say DOE funding process may close Savannah Ecology Lab

The chairmen of two US House subcommittees have accused the US Department of Energy of deliberately manipulating its funding process in order to close the Savannah River Ecology Lab, operated by the University of Georgia.

The allegations are contained in a report prepared for the subcommittees on investigations and oversight, and energy and environment. They are holding a second congressional hearing this week into why the DOE abruptly withdrew $3 million from the lab in the middle of a fiscal year. The funding shortfall caused UGA to lay off 40 employees and make plans to shut down the lab in a year.

The DOE claims there was an agreement that the lab would be self-sufficient by this year, but the subcommittees didn't find any documents to support that claim. Instead they found a written promise that the DOE would supply the lab's funds.

The DOE also claims that it denied the funding for the lab's 2007 research proposals because of negative peer reviews. But the House investigation found that no review was conducted and Energy Department staff actually helped write the proposals.