DOE BEGINS PUBLIC SEARCH FOR NEW NETL DIRECTOR

Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
12/06/13

A week after the former head of the National Energy Technology Laboratory was indicted on a charge of obstruction of justice, the Department of Energy began a public search for a new permanent NETL director. The job listing for NETL director was recently posted on the USAJobs.gov website and the open period runs through Jan. 10. A DOE spokesperson said this week that the Department does not have a set timeline for filling the position. In a recent letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Obama Administration’s nominee to serve as the next Assistant Energy Secretary for Fossil Energy, Chris Smith, said that although “we do not have an estimated time by which a new director will be appointed … we are committed to finding one expeditiously.” Deputy Director Scott Klara is currently managing the laboratory on an acting basis.

Anthony Cugini, the former NETL director, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pa., Nov. 19, two months after he was abruptly placed on administrative leave for reasons that remain unclear. However, prosecutors allege that in connection with a DOE investigation into whether he misused his position as NETL director, Cugini “attempted to conceal and destroy evidence by directing witnesses to delete and redesignate NETL computer files and records, to ‘protect him’ during the investigation, and to provide false information in response to investigative inquiries,” according to a news release from U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton’s office. Cugini has been summoned to appear for arraignment on Dec. 10 at 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Cynthia Eddy and will be released on his own recognizance, according to a spokesperson for Hickton’s office.