An Oklahoma auditor says a cleanup contract for the heavily polluted Tar Creek Superfund site cost five times more than it should have.
Auditor Gary Jones renewed his call for a 2011 audit on Monday. He accused the attorney general's office of covering up corruption at the site "by withholding a public document, paid for with public funds and conducted on behalf of the public."
Jones alleges that the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust "spent over $3.6 million on a project when the cost could have been less than $600,000."
Jones also accuses former Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who now heads the Environmental Protection Agency, of impropriety in his decision to show the audit to the trust's attorney.
An open records lawsuit filed in November seeks the audit's release. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23.