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State lawmaker wants agency documents on brownfield tax credits

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A state lawmaker has requested documents from two state agencies regarding how the state awards brownfield tax credits, after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported taxpayers lost millions in one project.

Representative Jay Barnes (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Jay Barnes (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

That Post-Dispatch article says a consultant, Environmental Operations, Inc, was hired to attempt to secure state money to help pay for redevelopment of the site of the Northwest Plaza in St. Louis. It said that project would require asbestos removal measures, making it eligible for brownfield tax credits.

The article says Environmental Operations designed the demolition project, managed the bids and awarded itself the project while not telling the state about another, lower bid. It also says the firm, when requesting bids, also overestimated by more than two times the amount of asbestos that would be removed, causing other bidders to submit accordingly higher bids.

The article quotes one expert as saying the award of tax credits in that case was unfair to competitors and could violate federal law.

Representative Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) says there appears to be a lack of oversight.

“A lack of ensuring that folks doing these projects are carrying them out in a fashion that is going to be most beneficial to Missouri taxpayers.”

Barnes has asked for documents from the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Natural Resources laying out how Brownfield tax credits are designed to work, criteria for their award and in what amount, and how projects are followed up on to make sure assertions made in a bid application are complied with and work done is on a high quality and done at the least possible cost to Missouri taxpayers.

Barnes says the appearance of a lack of oversight makes this situation similar to the failed Mamtek sugar plant project in Moberly that his Committee on Oversight and Accountability investigated beginning in 2011. He doesn’t know if this is a situation that will lead to similar hearings.

See Barnes’ requests letter to DNR, and to DED.

Dept. of Natural Resources monitoring drought

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Drought conditions are worsening across the state, but are still not serious enough that the Department of Natural Resources has activated its drought response plan.

The latest information from the U.S. Drought Monitor, from June 12. (Click image to go to the U.S. Drought Monitor's website)

Water Resources Center director Ryan Miller says conditions are getting close to those triggers, however. He says DNR is closely monitoring the situation and working with local and national agencies. “We do have some areas of moderate drought in both northeast and southeast Missouri, and then some areas of severe drought in extreme southeast Missouri. We’re continuing to discuss long-term climate and weather forecasts, also looking at things like groundwater levels, stream flows and other hydrologic indicators that we have as part of our assessment tools.”

Miller says there are several signs DNR looks for to begin implementing its plan. “Looking at stream flows, looking at groundwater levels, looking at levels in many of the state’s reservoirs and water supply impoundments. Then, there are several, what are called “long-term drought indices,” primarily the Palmer Index, and that takes into account long-term soil moistures and other water in storage for the state.”

Click here to see the state’s drought plan. 

The impacts that have been reported to the Department so far all involve agriculture. Those have included slow emergence of crops, more expense associated with earlier and more frequent irrigation and the conditions of pasture and hay.  Miller says that is significant, but adds, “Thankfully we have not received any reports of impacts to public water supplies around the state, and we do continue to monitor reservoirs, the streams, the aquifers.”

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s next update will be available on Thursday.

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

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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…]

Nixon Administration says it will work with committee

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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)

Two DNR employees suspended over E. coli controversy

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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.

Nixon officials attempt to explain E. coli flap

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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)

Nixon suspends DNR director, says he was given bad information

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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)

Senator says new revelations show need for DNR review

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A state senator heading a review of why the Department of Natural Resources withheld a report on contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks says the most recent revelations confirm the need for a Senate review.

A review of DNR action by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and the Environment began in late July. Chairman Brad Lager (R-Savannah) refuses to call it an investigation, insisting the committee simply wants to know what broke down, where it broke down and should public policy change to keep it from breaking down in the future.

DNR withheld information about elevated E. coli levels at the Lake of the Ozarks for four weeks. It came to light late last week that a former top DNR official informed a top aide of Governor Nixon about the problem on May 29th. The interview former DNR Communications Director Susanne Medley gave to Senate committee staff members contradicts the insistence of the governor’s office that it didn’t know until June 23rd that DNR withheld the report. Medley told Senate staffers that she spoke with Jeff Mazur, a member of the governor’s communications office on the 29th, the day after she found out about the report.

Revelations that Governor Nixon’s office knew early on confirm Lager’s belief that the probe is needed.

“And the reason that that is so important is because this is not about pointing a finger at somebody and saying, ‘It’s this person’s fault.’ This is about understanding where the public trust was violated and then making sure that never happens again,” says Lager.

Lager doesn’t want to rush the review, which he says has been slowed because DNR hasn’t cooperated.

“What is very clear to me is DNR has made a conscious decision to not be candid, to not be open and to not be honest,” Lager says.

Lager adds that after DNR drug its feet, it then dumped nearly half a million e-mails on the committee, yet still might be keeping e-mail correspondence vital to the review from committee staff members. Staff members with the committee have been interviewing DNR personnel and reading e-mails.

 

Gov. Nixon held a news conference last week to announce an initiative to improve water quality at the Lake of the Ozarks. The four-part plan begins with the inspection of about 400 area facilities that hold wastewater permits close to the Lake of the Ozarks of major tributaries. Lager says he’s not sure the plan adequately addresses public safety concerns at the lake. He advocates a state government policy that works with communities at the Lake of the Ozark to police contamination.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Governor Nixon’s office knew about DNR E. coli action

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It appears Governor Nixon’s office did know, early on, that high E. coli levels threatened the public’s safety at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The Springfield News-Leader and the Kansas City Star report that a former Department of Natural Resources official told Senate committee staff that she notified a top aide to Governor Nixon about the elevated levels on May 29th. The governor’s office has asserted repeatedly that it didn’t know about the problem until June 23rd. DNR has admitted it kept the information from the public for four weeks, worried that it would hurt tourism at the lake.

Both The News-Leader and The Star say they used a Sunshine Law request to obtain a transcript of the interview between Senate staff and former DNR communications director Susanne Medley, who resigned abruptly last week. Medley told staff she informed top Nixon aide Jeff Mazur about the contamination on May 29th, a day after she learned of them. Medley further stated that she kept Mazur abreast of additional E. coli test results. Medley adds that Mazur instructed her on June 26th to keep any news about high levels of E. coli from the state’s largest media outlets. DNR released the test results for both May and June later that day.

The Nixon Administration has steadfastly denied knowing about the E. coli report and DNR’s withholding of it until a June 23rd meeting when DNR Director Mark Templeton met with Nixon Chief of Staff John Watson.

Gov. Nixon held a news conference on Wednesday to announce an initiative to improve water quality at the Lake of the Ozarks. The four-part plan begins with the inspection of about 400 area facilities that hold wastewater permits close to the Lake of the Ozarks of major tributaries.

Nixon outlines plan for Lake of the Ozarks cleanup

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Governor Jay Nixon has announced an initiative aimed at improving water quality at the Lake of the Ozarks. It’s an initiative that includes a comprehensive study of contaminants of the lake.

Governor Nixon's Lake of the Ozarks news conference "Ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Lake of the Ozarks is a challenge that falls to us here and now to guarantee that this resource remains for generations to follow," said Nixon as he was flanked by Department of Natural Resources Director Mark Templeton at a Wednesday afternoon news conference at the Pa He Tsi Boat Launch at Lake of the Ozarks State Park.

With that, Nixon announced a four-part plan to clean up the Lake of the Ozarks, which begins with the inspection sweep of about 400 area facilities that hold current wastewater permits close to the Lake of the Ozarks of major tributaries. The Governor promises a zero-tolerance standard for permit violations will be applied.

Lake of the Ozarks The next step is a zero-tolerance policy regarding the pollution of the lake with contaminants. Step will see the Department of Natural Resources completing the baseline survey of water quality at the lake, testing all relevant contaminants. Finally, DNR will institute a strict standard for authorizing any additional wastewater discharge permits around the lake.

"These actions will help us move water quality here at the lake in the right direction," said Nixon. "I have ordered the DNR to start implementing these policies immediately."

As for why this effort is being launched now, Nixon makes it clear the closing of Lake of the Ozark beaches this summer is reason enough.

"Having to close beaches in a state park is a dramatic occurrence that happened not once, but twice, this summer and certainly that focused my attention on this particular resource," said Nixon. "I would hope, and I think it’s well within our power, to accomplish that that never happens again here."

Asked why the public should have confidence in the government given the fact that information on this summer’s E.coli contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks was withheld from the public for a period of time, Nixon vows to take the bull by the horns.

"We’ve laid out a very, very clear path here of what we are going to do using the full force and power of the Department of Natural Resources and the Governor’s Office to make sure that we get on a path that gives us the baseline information that the public will be able to see.that lays out a clear plan to improve the water quality of this resource. We’re gonna do that … I’m gonna do it … We’re gonna do it … It’s gonna happen."

Nixon expects the results of the DNR study to be delivered to his desk by December 31st of this year.

Download/Listen: Governor’s news conference at Lake of the Ozarks (27:00 MP3)