VA OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL TO REVIEW LITTLE ROCK VA MEDICAL CENTER SOLAR PANEL ACTIVATION FAILURE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 15, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General (VAOIG) notified U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Congressman French Hill (AR-02) that it will add the Little Rock Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) to its national project on VA’s Green Management Program Solar Panel Projects after the lawmakers detailed problems with the facility’s renewable energy program.
“VA is working to reestablish its trust with veterans and taxpayers. However, the misuse of taxpayer dollars we have seen with the solar panel project at the Little Rock Veterans Affairs Medical Center undermines the public’s confidence in VA and wastes resources that are supposed to help our veterans. It is my hope that this evaluation will lead to recommendations for improvements to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Boozman said.
“The solar panel project at the Little Rock VA has raised many unanswered questions, and I am hopeful that the VAOIG’s review of this and similar projects across the country will provide Arkansans and Americans with the answers they deserve. I am committed to increasing accountability and efficiency throughout the entire VA to ensure funds are properly allocated so that our Nation’s veterans to receive the benefits and care they deserve,” Hill said.
In letters to the legislators the Deputy Inspector General says he expects the national review to be completed early next year.
The members wrote a letter to the VAOIG in April detailing their concerns about the Little Rock VAMC’s solar panels after their compatibility failed with the electricity grid and were built in a location that conflicted with another construction project.
Contact: Hill – Mike Siegel, (202) 225-2506 Boozman – Sara Lasure 202-224-4843
