NOAA’s senior-most official overseeing the agency’s satellites said Monday morning he remained in the dark about why he was placed on administrative leave last week pending an investigation into his performance.
“All I’ve seen is what’s been reported in the media,” said Stephen Volz, the assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “I have no idea what the scope of it is.”
Volz and Deputy General Council Jeff Dillen were put on leave Friday. Dillen could not be reached for comment.
Both men, longtime senior officials at the agency, were involved in an internal NOAA investigation of the agency’s handling in 2019 of what became popularly known as “Sharpiegate,” following then-President Donald Trump’s unexplained modification of a NOAA-produced “cone of projection” map indicating Hurricane Dorian’s path could extend into Alabama. That was not NOAA’s forecast for the storm, which didn’t hit the state.
