We all spend some time taking care of personal errands and do some personal web surfing at the office. But, according to the Office of Inspector General, a career EPA employee stored thousands of pornographic files on his government computer, and admitted to watching pornography at work, sometimes for more than half the business day.
“When an OIG special agent arrived at this employee’s work space to conduct an interview, the special agent witnessed the employee actively viewing pornography on his government-issued computer,” Allan Williams, deputy assistant inspector general for Investigations told the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. “Subsequently, the employee confessed to spending, on average, between two and six hours per day viewing pornography while at work.”
Really? Six hours a day? Let me type that again, six hours a day. I started to think about that, but not for too long.
Anyway, Mr. Williams went on to say that the Department of Justice accepted the OIG’s recommendation to prosecute this official, who Mr. Williams did not name because of this ongoing action. Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) took the EPA’s Robert Perciasepe to task for failing to take any steps to fire the porn-watching official.
Rep. Chaffetz asked how long the EPA employee had been viewing the pornography, and Mr. Perciasepe said he didn’t know. Rep. Chaffetz indicated his understanding was that it had been happening since 2010, and asked a befuddled Mr. Perciasepe, “How can I know and you don’t?”
Mr. Perciasepe went on to note that he was waiting for an OIG’s final report on the employee prior to taking any action. Rep. Chaffetz then asked what Mr. Perciasepe was doing about the employee now, and Mr. Perciasepe said he was doing “nothing.”
“Ding, ding, ding, ding; that’s the problem.” Rep. Chaffetz responded.
About the Author
Gerald L. Kirkpatrick, P.G. is a Principal Geoscientist and the Managing Partner of Environmental Standards, Inc. Mr. Kirkpatrick has more than 30 years of applied environmental geoscience experience in both private industry and environmental consulting. Outside of work, Gerry enjoys fishing and an occasional single malt. A very poor chess player, he remains dedicated to the game, nonetheless.