U.S. Rep., Head of U.S.G.S. at Odds Again

U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) and U.S.G.S. director Mark Myers sparred over the fate of the agency's Rolla office yesterday.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has more:

The agency's mapping office in Rolla is competing against private corporations and a USGS branch office in Denver to see who will conduct government mapping and archival work. The agency is part of the Interior Department, which is scheduled to pick a site in late August and announce the winner on Sept. 12, officials say.

The Rolla facility will likely be closed down if it loses.

"The competitive process for site selection is still ongoing," Mark Myers, director of the USGS, said under questioning from Emerson during an Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, complained that Denver had an unfair edge, given that an initial plan called for closing of the Rolla office. It took more than half a year for Emerson and Missouri's two senators to get the Interior Department to reconsider and start over, giving Denver added preparation time in a competition, she said.

Currently the U.S.G.S. employs about 100 people at its office in Rolla, Missouri.