I have been following various publications and government
hearings, watching for any information that correlates to the agencies that
were involved with the illegal excessing, sale and export of STORIS.
Denise Rucker Krepp, former Chief Counsel for MARAD, has
written another column that was recently published in Maritime Executive. The
focus of the column relates to the ongoing issues with the controversy over
substandard care for our veterans through the Veterans Administration and the
culture of incompetence that has allowed this situation to take place. However,
the culture of incompetence is pervasive throughout the federal government and
explains how bureaucrats and government employees get away with such egregious
behavior and actions. In our case, that would include allowing the sale of a
nationally significant historic ship (likely containing regulated amounts of
PCBs) to an unqualified buyer who then spent the remainder of the summer of
2013 flaunting deadlines and attempting to extort the nonprofits who wanted to
save the ship for museum use. Then when they didn’t get their ransom, the
buyers illegally exported STORIS to Mexico
for scrapping, all with the federal government’s apparent blessing.
People keep saying that things need to change but we, as a
country, keep electing corrupt people to positions of power. We DO need to
change. And that’s not just hollow campaign rhetoric. There also needs to be
accountability and consequences for people who are responsible for transgressions
they commit in the name of doing OUR business. Whose best interests are they
really serving? OURS or THEIRS?
