The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will investigate a solar-power system installed at the Little Rock VA hospital that has never been activated, according to a statement Thursday from the office of U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark.
Richard J. Griffin, deputy inspector general with the VA's inspector general's office, sent letters to Boozman and U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., on May 13 that said the Little Rock hospital would be added to a list of other locations that have solar-panel projects already under VA investigation.
Griffin told the lawmakers that he expects the investigation to be completed by early 2016.
"VA is working to reestablish its trust with veterans and taxpayers. However, the misuse of taxpayer dollars we have seen with the solar panel project at the Little Rock Veterans Affairs Medical Center undermines the public's confidence in VA and wastes resources that are supposed to help our veterans," Boozman said in a written statement Thursday.
Griffin's letter was in response to a request from Boozman and Hill in April that the VA inspector general's office look into the process of approving and installing the solar panels.
The lawmakers first questioned the federal VA about the solar panels after it was reported that a section of them was being taken down to make room for a new parking deck.
About 7,300 panels in the solar-power system were installed in the parking lot at John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in 2013 at a cost of about $8 million.
In April, Marty Risner, an energy manager with the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, said the panels had never been activated because they do not meet the requirements to go online in Entergy's electrical system.
Metro on 05/20/2015