Watch CBS News

DRPA Investigator Says Agency's Reforms Are Still Incomplete

By David Madden

CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- The man hired by the Delaware River Port Authority to root out problems in the bi-state agency that runs bridges and mass transit suggests in a 28-page report that there's a lot of work still to be done to comply with the mandated cleanup.

DRPA inspector general Thomas Raftery's look into a loan guarantee involving the Battleship New Jersey found that some of the reforms the DRPA adopted a couple of years ago have yet to be fully implemented.

His report says that ethics policies are not uniform across the board, and procedures for contracts and purchasing are confusing.

Read the DRPA Inspector General's Report (pdf format)

But DRPA spokesman Tim Ireland says it's mostly a matter of making the new rules fit into the agency's old bylaws.

"This is a mid-process snapshot of a reform that is going to be completed in the coming months, and we welcome it," Ireland tells KYW Newsradio. "It's exactly what we wanted the inspector general to do."

But other reforms have been in place for some time, such as the elimination of E-Z Pass for employees and the elimination of outside funding for projects unrelated to the DRPA.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.