A report and three speakers from the General Accounting Office discussed problems in the grant and contract management and internal controls at DOE. Specific problems included a poorly documented accounting system and administrative weaknesses in cash management and grant closeout activities. Newspaper articles and memoranda also focused on the charge that sludge was dumped into a petroleum reserve cavern and that cost overruns amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars. Additional testimony and questions considered actions taken by DOE to improve its accounting and overall financial management and the monitoring of Government-owned property in the hands of contractors.