The Department of Interior is blaming U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth for delayed royalty payments to 36 states and Indian beneficiaries.

Minerals Management Service director R.M. "Johnnie" Burton wrote a letter to 36 governors saying that their share of federal mineral revenues has been halted due to a shutdown of the department's Internet connection. Burton claims the systems cannot make payments unless they are online.

DOI also claims that Indian and tribal account holders will not receive monthly royalty payments for oil, gas, timber and livestock activities even though these systems have been running without an Internet connection for more than a year.

Get the Story:
Indians unable to get royalty checks (The Billings Gazette 3/24)
Interior says states will not get $90 million because of Internet shutdown (AP 3/24)
Haskell awaiting Internet rescue (The Lawrence Journal-World 3/24)

Relevant Documents:
Daschle Letter on Internet Shutdown (March 19, 2004)

Court Decisions:
Memorandum Opinion | Preliminary Injunction

GAO Report:
Departmental Leadership Crucial to Success of Investment Reforms at Interior (September 2003)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust

Related Stories:
SIPI distance learning affected by Internet shutdown (3/23)
BIA seeks Internet access for its schools (3/23)
DOI says Internet shutdown affects BIA schools (3/18)
Judge orders DOI shutdown of Internet connections (3/16)
Computer shutdown applies to all DOI systems (3/16)
BIA shows off information technology facility (3/2)
Appeals court to hear Cobell disqualification dispute (3/1)
Anderson praises Cobell suit in NCAI speech (2/25)
Lamberth orders DOI to turn over IT reports (12/12)
DOI fares poorly on computer security report card (12/11)
Judge seeks to break impasse over trust systems (07/29)
BIA incident prompts high-level recommendation (03/27)
Court report blasts McCaleb for destroying records (01/27)
Court: McCaleb 'fabricated' e-mail story (1/24)
BIA aides circumventing court (12/16)
Martin's role in incident surfaces (12/16)
BIA aides e-mail use prompts inquiry (12/17)
McCaleb admits to e-mail 'misunderstanding' (10/23)
Burns takes on BIA problems in stride (08/23)
McCaleb gets new computer official (6/5)
Retaliation charged as BIA official jumps ship (7/25)