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Former DNR official takes blame for withholding Lake of the Ozarks E. coli information

January 5, 2010 By

On the eve of start of the 2010 legislative session the Senate committee looking into delays in the release of information on the E. coli contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks hears from a former state official who accepts full responsibility.

Former Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director Joe Bindbeutal told the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee that he and he – alone – is responsible for the decision not to release the information. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Legislature Tagged With: ,

Nixon Administration says it will work with committee

October 4, 2009 By

Top officials within the Nixon Administration deny they have been uncooperative with a Senate review of DNR action to withhold information about contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Sen. Brad Lager (R-Savannah) has complained his committee’s review of Department of Natural Resources’ action has been slowed by an uncooperative DNR. DNR Director Mark Templeton denies the charge and defends his decision to halt interviews between Senate committee staff and DNR employees until the DNR staff attorney was present.

“It was originally three (Senate committee) staffers and just a DNR employee,” Templeton tells the Missourinet. “The DNR employee, in the department, needed to have someone in the interview with him.”

Templeton rejects suggestions that DNR action has hurt the Senate committee work.

“Absolutely, we have not hurt their investigation,” asserts Templeton.

Templeton has been suspended without pay while the Nixon Administration investigates what went wrong. Governor Nixon Chief of Staff John Watson says the Senate committee focus and the focus of the governor’s office are different.

“If their focus is trying to determine legislative changes, I don’t believe at the outset that’s a primary focus of ours and, in all likelihood, not much of the focus at all,” Watson says.

Governor Nixon has named DNR Deputy Director Bill Bryan to serve as acting director during Templeton’s two-week suspension. Nixon also has ordered Bryan and Department of Corrections Inspector General Chris Pickering to conduct a thorough investigation of DNR’s action. The investigation is to focus on why beaches at Lake of the Ozarks state parks which registered high E. coli levels weren’t closed. Nixon has also ordered Bryan to hold accountable those responsible for not closing the beaches and withholding the information from the public for a month.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (1:20 MP3)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Two DNR employees suspended over E. coli controversy

October 3, 2009 By

There is more fallout from the withholding of information regarding contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks prior to the Memorial Day weekend.

Two Department of Natural Resources employees have been placed on administrative leave without pay for five days. According to a DNR press release, the action is based on initial findings from an ongoing investigation into the department’s failure to close beaches in May, following samplings that showed high levels of E. coli bacteria. DNR is not releasing the names of the employees and will not provide any other details.

The action comes just days after DNR Director Mark Templeton was suspended for two weeks for his role in the affair.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Nixon officials attempt to explain E. coli flap

September 30, 2009 By

Nixon Administration officials attempt to explain why contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks wasn’t reported promptly even as the governor orders an investigation of the Department of Natural Resources.

Nixon_Administration_news_conference.jpg Officials within the Nixon Administration denied they knew about contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks until a month after readings were taken. Then a transcript of an interview with former DNR spokeswoman Susanne Medley became public, revealing she had told top Nixon aide Jeff Mazur about elevated E. coli levels early on.

Mazur says he didn’t pass the information along to others in Nixon’s office.

"I did not," Mazur tells reporters both gathered in the governor’s office and on a conference call. "I didn’t feel as though I had anything to share. I didn’t have any numbers. I didn’t have any paper. I didn’t have tangible results. It was made clear to me that these were results on which there wasn’t sufficient information for any conclusions to be drawn."

Mazur terms the Medley meeting on May 29th a "heads up" and claims he didn’t actually see results until four weeks later.

"She gave me a heads up that they had initial results," Mazur explains. "This was in late May, May 29th, May 28th. I saw the release, it must have been June 24th or 25th, I can’t remember which date it was. It was the day before the release ultimately was issued."

The Springfield News-Leader reported earlier that Medley revealed her discussion with Mazur to the staff of a Senate committee reviewing the DNR’s decision to delay release of the contamination report. The newspaper obtained a transcript through a Sunshine Law request. Medley resigned just prior to talking with committee staff. In the interview, Medley said she told Mazur about the elevated E. coli levels during a telephone conversation and supplied periodic updates about the test results to Mazur. The Kansas City Star also reported on the interview.

Governor Nixon complains that DNR gave him faulty information. Nixon has ordered an investigation of the department and has suspended DNR Director Mark Templeton, a suspension Templeton accepts.

"I said that I passed the information from people in my department to the governor’s office," Templeton says. "Accountability is appropriate."

Deputy DNR Director Bill Bryan has been appointed acting director. Nixon has asked him and Department of Corrections Inspector General Chris Pickering to conduct a thorough investigation and to punish those responsible. Department of Insurance spokesman Travis Ford has been assigned duties as DNR communications director in the interim.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (1:25 MP3)
Nixon Administration officials discuss E. coli issue with reporters (45 min. MP3)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With: , , ,

Nixon suspends DNR director, says he was given bad information

September 30, 2009 By

Governor Nixon has suspended Department of Natural Resources Director Mark Templeton and ordered an investigation as to why DNR withheld information that the Lake of the Ozarks was contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

Nixon announced the suspension and that he has ordered an investigation of DNR during a telephone conference call prior to an event in Branson. Nixon stated DNR provided him with faulty information about the actions it took after samples taken at Lake of the Ozarks beaches on May 18th and 27th uncovered E. coli levels five times higher than normal. Nixon claimed the false information led him to make inaccurate statements about the incident during interviews with the news media.

The governor’s office has been embroiled in a controversy over contamination at the lake since it became public that DNR delayed public release of the E. coli report for four weeks. The office had denied knowing anything about the contamination until June 23rd. A Senate committee review of DNR action, though, revealed that a top Nixon aide, Jeff Mazur, knew about the elevated E. coli levels in late May.

Nixon told reporters gathered on the conference call and in his Capitol office that he has learned DNR had not been forthright with his office a day before announcing a major water quality initiative at the Lake of the Ozarks. Nixon said that DNR told his office it had closed the beaches with elevated E. coli levels, though it hadn’t.

"This is quite simply unconscionable," Nixon told reporters. "It is nothing short of an outrage and my reaction is sheer disappointment and disgust."

Nixon said he relied on a document supplied to him by DNR several times to answer questions in public. He said that caused him to unwittingly pass along false information.

"That is inexcusable," Nixon stated. "It should never have happened and I sincerely regret having unknowingly shared information that was not true."

Officials in Nixon’s office say the status of Templeton has not been decided. He has been placed on administrative leave without pay for two weeks. Nixon has appointed DNR Deputy Director Bill Bryan as acting director and ordered him to conduct an investigation of the failure to close state park beaches contaminated with E. coli and to hold accountable those responsible. The Department of Corrections Inspector General, Chris Pickering, has been ordered to assist Bryan in the investigation. Travis Ford, spokesman for the Department of Insurance, will serve as spokesman for DNR in the interim. DNR spokeswoman Susanne Medley resigned shortly before telling staff with a Senate committee that she had informed a top Nixon aide about the elevated E. coli levels in late May.

"The fact that beaches which should have been closed were not closed makes me angrier than words can describe," Nixon said in concluding his remarks. "The fact that officials of the DNR would provide me with faulty information which I then shared with you (reporters) and with the public is very simply a violation of the department’s duty."

Download/listen Gov. Nixon on DNR investigation. (6:30 MP3)

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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