HARRISBURG - Auditor General Robert Casey Jr. said Tuesday he'll decide within a week whether his office will investigate the Kvaerner shipyard deal in Philadelphia for possible violations of Pennsylvania's Domestic Steel Procurement Act.

Sen. Leonard Bodack, a Lawrenceville Democrat, requested the investigation, and said more than $425 million in federal, state, and local tax dollars have been invested in converting the old Navy Yard in Philadelphia into a commercial shipbuilding operation with Kaverner of Sweden as the tenant.

However, a controversy erupted last month when the Swedish shipbuilder ordered a 250-foot gantry crane from Portugal, claiming it could not be manufactured in the United States.

Bodack said the $28 million purchase may violate the state's 1978 law that mandates the use of domestically produced steel in publicly funded projects.

"The promise that went with this deal was to put Pennsylvanians back to work," said Sen. Albert Belan, a West Mifflin Democrat. "And I think we should make sure that promise is kept."

"We are looking at it very seriously," said Karen Walsh, a spokeswoman for Casey. She said legal counsel to the department must determine if the auditor general has jurisdiction to conduct such a probe.

"The Ridge administration wants nothing more than for the Kvaerner deal to benefit workers, first in all parts of Pennsylvania, and in the U.S.A.," said spokesman Tim Reeves.

Reeves said a strong effort is under way to assure that Kvaerner buys from Pennsylvania and U.S. suppliers.