Minerals Management Service Scandal

There has been much reporting on the recently completed investigation of the Minerals Management Service, an office within the Department of the Interior, which include various allegations ranging from drug use to conflict of interest violations. The investigations were conducted by the Department of the Interior's Office of the Inspector General. You can find the three reports presented to congress by the OIG here.

It appears that this is not the first time that congress has looked into the operations of the Minerals Management Service. Here are just a few congressional hearings regarding the MMS and/or the DOI:
"Oil and Gas Royalty Management at DOI" (PDF)
"Interior Department: a culture of management irresponsibility and lack of accountability?"
"Reports, audits, and investigations by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding the Department of the Interior"

You might also want to look at some of the reports issued by the US Government Accountability Office:
"Litigation over Royalty Relief Could Cost the Federal Government Billions of Dollars"
"Data Management Problems and Reliance on Self-Reported Data for Compliance Efforts Put MMS Royalty Collections at Risk"

If you're interested in government ethics and conflicts of interest, you might want to take a look at the website for the Office of Government Ethics, which includes their advisory opinions. California has a state government level equivalent in the Fair Political Practices Commission; find their advice summaries here.