The termination for convenience last year by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate of a contract to NVS Technologies, Inc. for the development of a rapidly deployable biological threat detection platform demonstrated a lack of adequate standards for overseeing contracts and may have resulted in the waste of at least $23 million in costs, the department’s Inspector General’s office says in a report this week.
The audit found that none of the program managers assigned to the contract, which was awarded in 2010, “documented the review, acceptance, approval, or validation of the contractor’s progress, meeting milestones, completed tasks, deliverables, or discussions with NVS.”
This lack of proper oversight led the former acting chief of S&T’s Chemical and Biological Defense Division to terminate the contract claiming that continuing it was not the best use of agency funds and that mature commercial technology could be leverage instead. The acting chief’s direction was against the advice of the agency’s subject matter experts.
The audit found no evidence backing the concerns of the acting division head, including no commercial technologies available that could be leveraged for the pathogen and biothreat detection effort.
“S&T’s contract files contained NVS-provided meeting minutes, progress reports showing milestones met, and records of S&T site visits,” the report says. “There was no evidence that S&T reviewed the documentation provided by NVS,” which may have hindered the agency’s “ability to make an informed decision about the contract.”
“As recently as January 2014, an S&T program review revealed thee was substantial data showing the NVS technology worked, and S&T personnel also acknowledged a continued need for the technology,” the report says.
The original contract to NVS to develop the Multi-Application Multiplex Technology Platform was for $18 million but subsequent modifications raised the ceiling value to $30 million. S&T ultimately spent $23 million on the contract, excluding termination costs.
The IG recommended standard operating procedures be implemented for contract management to supplement existing guidance, that standard guidance also be implemented for recommending the termination of contracts for convenience, and that S&T review its contracts to make there sufficient program reviews are in place. The agency concurred with each recommendation.