Update-Millions Of Dollars In Equipment At CDC Missing

[Guest guest]

Now can anyone tell me how " several " Land Rovers and 4x4's can go

missing from this agency without someone noticing they were gone?

(No need to answer, being sarcastic.

Millions Of Dollars In Equipment At CDC Missing

CBS2 Chicago - Chicago,IL*

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/topstories_story_218215834.html

(CBS News) WASHINGTON The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

may be expert at tracking disease. But the agency leaves something

to be desired when it comes to tracking big-ticket items paid for

with your tax dollars.

CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson exclusively obtained a 90-

page list of thousands of pieces of scientific equipment and

property — all bought by taxpayers, and all of it missing in action.

The list includes 35 centrifuges, each costing up to $41,800; five

DNA sequencers and gene analyzers costing up to $111,000 apiece; and

a $200,000 spectrometer used for analyzing samples. Nobody knows

where they are.

Also unaccounted for are high-end microscopes, copiers, dozens of

Land Cruisers and 4x4's, a Deere tractor and backhoe, and 5,000

computers.

" Where did they go? How do we find them? Who's in charge over

there? " asks Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.

Walden is investigating the property mess. He says some items have

turned up for sale on eBay, yet the CDC can't even say if anyone has

ever been arrested.

" How do I know what they have or don't have? They don't know what

they have or don't have, " Walden says. " They can't locate it,

they've not prosecuted anybody and nobody in the agency's been held

responsible for their shabby bookkeeping. "

Twelve years ago, the Inspector General warned the CDC to fix its

property troubles. Back then, $1 million worth was missing. Now it's

$22 million — 5,547 items.

At least some of the CDC property was stolen, and it may have been

an inside job. Someone knew how to defeat security at a CDC

warehouse and made off with $500,000 worth of new computers.

It kind of makes you wonder what the folks in charge of property

have been doing. There are more than 900 of them employed at CDC.

The CDC wouldn't agree to an interview, but told CBS News they take

the problems " very seriously " and that sheer size is an issue: they

have " 15,000 staff ... in more than 40 countries. " CDC also claims

that since CBS News started working on this story, it has " accounted

for " more than $10 million in missing equipment, but would not

provide any detail.

" There's a piece of equipment missing for every three employees on

average, and that's just outrageous! " Walden said.

That doesn't even factor in the potential security issues with the

missing computers, since the CDC is the lead agency on bioterror

threats. It's one more reason why, a dozen years after first

flagging the problem, the Inspector General has opened a new

investigation.