A ferry to nowhere? $20 mil earmark could benefit cronies of GOP senator

Jason Rhyne Published: Friday November 16, 2007  del.icio.us
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A bridge to nowhere is one thing -- but a ferry?

$20 million in federal money has been set aside to create an "experimental" ferry in Alaska, which will run between Anchorage and an undeveloped outcropping of land in the state called Knik Arm. Incorporated into a defense spending bill signed this week by President Bush, the ferry project could mean big business for the friends of one embattled GOP Senator.

The earmark for the ferry was written by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who is the focus of FBI and IRS investigations into the lawmaker's possible links to an Alaskan bribery scandal. According to Roll Coll's John Stanton, "several current and former members of Stevens' staff" own land at the ferry's remote destination, which has previously been eyed for development by the state due to lack of available space in Anchorage.

"While appropriators made deep cuts to many earmarks included in the 2008 Defense appropriations bill...Stevens’ ferry earmark went untouched, despite the fact that the Navy had not requested the money and had rejected the experimental craft in the past," writes Stanton. "According to published accounts, the Navy rejected the vessel in 2002 as impractical. Nonetheless, Stevens has continued funding it, inserting nearly $50 million for the project into appropriation bills from 2002 to 2006."

Among the potential beneficiaries of the project are Stevens' chief of staff, George Lowe, and a former aide, Lisa Sutherland.

"According to land records compiled by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Senate financial disclosure forms and published accounts, Lowe owns a 2.6-acre parcel of undeveloped land on the Knik Arm," Stanton's report continues. "Borough records show that Lowe’s land went from being appraised at $47,000 in 2005 to $57,500 in 2006. The value remained the same this year."

Sutherland, who was Stevens staffer for 30 years -- and is now working on the senator's reelection campaign -- also owns a parcel of land.

"Along with her husband, Scott, a lobbyist for Ducks Unlimited, Sutherland owns slightly less than four acres on Knik Arm," according to the paper. "A second former Stevens aide, Trevor McCabe, also owns land on Knik Arm..."

Stevens is already the subject of a federal investigation into another earmark-related matter involving McCabe. Alaska's SeaLife Center "has received over $50 million in federal money since 1998 due to Stevens. McCabe, was paid $558,000 of that money in a 2005 earmark for an adjacent piece of land," according to Alaska Report.

Read the full story in Roll Call (subscription required).