$17 Million Spent On Crash Probe Federal, Local Agencies Face Big Bills In Twa Investigation

The bill includes hiring a worker to cut grass so another one could dig a bombdetonation trench. It includes installing a backup generator at the Coast Guard station at East Moriches so dozens of agencies could set up camp in temporary trailers. And it includes up to $95,000 a day for the Navy’s efforts to bring the shattered pieces of a jetliner from an underwater grave.

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board is asking Congress for $7 million to cover the cost of the TWA Flight 800 investigation - but that doesn’t even begin to cover the costs of the unprecedented probe incurred by state, local and other federal authorities. Although the total amount changes daily, estimates from public officials put the tally at about $17 million spent so far.

For the NTSB, the agency in charge of the investigation, the cost has soared close to $4 million, several times more than any previous effort. The Coast Guard, which sent 1,000 people to Long Island from all over the country, estimates that it has spent close to $6 million. And the Suffolk County Police Department had racked up $3.89 million as of Monday.

The police figure, which includes $1.4 million in overtime, has sparked a debate among county officials on whether the costs are justified.

The local costs ultimately may be shouldered by the federal government; the county plans to submit bills to the federal government Oct. 1, and the state may follow suit.

The request before Congress to pay $7 million to the NTSB is part of President Clinton’s new antiterrorism measures announced this week.

But that money is only intended to cover the NTSB’s extraordinary expenses through the end of the fiscal year on Oct. 31. If the investigation continues - a likely possibility - “we’ll have to deal with that next year,” said Peter Goelz, director of governmental affairs for the NTSB.

The agency’s annual budget has only $1 million devoted to accident investigations, and that includes railroad and marine as well as aviation.

The major NTSB expenses included a peak of $95,000 a day to the Navy for salvage efforts at the peak of the operation, when five ships - public and private - were assisting. Now, with two Navy ships at the crash site, that cost is closer to $75,000 a day.

A portion of that money goes to Oceaneering, a Maryland-based company that has been under contract with the Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage for years to assist in underwater search and salvage operations.