GAO questions port security review by Coast Guard contractor

The government's top watchdog agency on Tuesday questioned port security assessments being conducted by a Coast Guard contractor.

The General Accounting Office is concerned about the "scope and quality of the assessments," according to Margaret Wrightson, the General Accounting Office's director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues. Wrightson made her statements in a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The GAO report did not identify the contractor, who is charging $1 million or more for each assessment. Auditors interviewed port officials to gauge their opinion of the assessments.

According to officials at one port, their assessment contained "factual errors" and was issued before it could be reviewed.

At another port, "local Coast Guard personnel and port stakeholders noted that a survey instrument referred to the wrong port, asked questions they regarded as not pertaining to security, and was conducted in ways that raised concerns about credibility," the GAO report says.

The report did say, however, that the Maritime Transportation Security Act "has already produced major changes in the nation's approach to maritime security."