Auditor General Report: Contaminated site management incomplete, uneven

The systems the P.E.I. Department of the Environment has in place for its contaminated sites registry are lacking, according to the Auditor General Report.

The review of contaminated sites management was one of three special audits performed by Auditor General Jane MacAdam in her 2015 report, which was released early Tuesday afternoon.

On the contaminated sites audit, MacAdam found the registry of contaminated sites was clearly incomplete, but the records were not in place to allow her to determine how incomplete.

The registry contains 45 former landfills. Information prepared by the Department of Infrastructure Renewal, however, included 68 former landfills.

"[Infrastructure Renewal] could not provide information on which specific sites were included in its summary and therefore, we could not determine whether the 45 landfill sites on the Contaminated Sites Registry were part of, or in addition to, the information provided by [Infrastructure Renewal]," the report says.

MacAdam also looked into the processes for handling complaints and notifications about contaminated sites.

She expected to find a process in place for prioritizing complaints and notifications, but instead was told staff use their own professional judgment for that.

"The factors used to make these decisions are often not documented," the report says.

"This could lead to inconsistencies in dealing with similar complaints or delays in responding to complaints."

As an example, the report notes a number of cases where a site visit would be expected, but there were no records of whether site visits occurred.

Access PEI controls improved

Access PEI acts as a clearing house for service payments from several government departments, such as the Department of Transportation and the Finance Department. In 2013-14, Access PEI processed 324,000 transactions worth about $34 million.

Much of MacAdam's audit focused on IT security systems. She recommended Access PEI should implement a firm policy of Access PEI employees changing their passwords every 90 days.

MacAdam also noted the existence of a generic account available to superusers of the system. This account had access to other account user names and passwords, and the ability to alter past transactions.

The generic account was examined and no financial transactions using the account were found. The account has since been disabled.

Accounting inconsistencies in out-of-province health care

MacAdam found Health PEI relied too heavily on other provinces to keep track of services accessed by Islanders out-of-province.

In particular, the report says Health PEI needs to keep a closer eye on duplicate claims.

"Our work uncovered instances where Health PEI was for more than one outpatient claim for a patient on the same day," the report says.

The report also found about 50 per cent of services requiring a physician referral did not have one submitted.

Improved deficit

The auditor general's audit of the 2013-14 fiscal year shows an improvement in the deficit over what the government forecast last year.

Last April then finance minister Wes Sheridan forecast a $51.9 million deficit. Auditor General Jane MacAdam, in her audit released early Tuesday afternoon, reported a final figure of $45.9 million.

The difference seems to have come largely on the strength of higher revenues: $1.597 billion versus $1.592 billion.

In addition to the financial numbers and the contaminated sites audit, MacAdam also focused on Access PEI and out-of-province health services.