Audit: FEMA Can't Account For $4.56M Spent on Fuel After Superstorm Sandy

The Federal Emergency Management Agency shelled out millions of dollars for fuel for New York after Superstorm Sandy hit in October 2012, but can't account for more than 70 percent of the money, a new federal audit shows.

"In the days following the storm when fuel was desperately needed, the Inspector General's reports shows that, somehow, critical relief fuel supplies either vanished or were misappropriated." said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association in New York, told The Wall Street Journal. "Heads should roll somewhere in response."

The audit, completed by the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security, shows that FEMA spent $6.37 million for 1.7 million gallons of gasoline after a shortage hit the New York City area in the wake of the storm, but documentation is "incomplete and questionable" for $4.56 million of the money.

Another $1.81 million of the fuel went outside the scope of the emergency funding, the report shows, and FEMA is not sure that any of the gasoline was used for power restoration projects or emergency public transportation.

FEMA has agreed to work toward recovering the lost funds, the report said, with a spokeswoman noting that the agency takes fiscal responsibility seriously and has already been reimbursed $2.1 million by the state of New York, which collected $1.8 million plus interest from retail gas stations that wrongfully got the fuel.

After the powerful hurricane knocked out power and supply lines, just one-third of the gas stations in New York City still had gas for sale, the Journal reports, and FEMA's intention was to provide gas for power restoration and transportation.

Part of the problem was that FEMA didn't define who should get the fuel until the Defense Logistic Agency had already delivered it, the report said,.

"These shortcomings, combined with the urgency to provide immediate support and the large number of contractors providing support, resulted in poor recordkeeping," the audit said.

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