HOW BIG IS THE DRIP?E-mails suggest that the deputy director of the state Department of Natural Resources asked for a copy of a report on high levels of E.coli in Lake of the Ozarks to take to a meeting with Governor Jay Nixon, according to the Springfield News Leader.
NOTE: AP ISSUED CORRECTION ON MEETING DIRECTLY WITH NIXON -- THAT DID NOT OCCUR
But, writes Chad Livengood, Nixon's office says (the official) visited their Capitol office on June 4 for a meeting about energy policy with an industry lobbyist and deputy legislative director Kristy Manning -- not water quality or E. coli."At no point in that conversation would the Lake of the Ozarks or E. coli have come up," said Nixon spokesman Jack Cardetti.
Read the entire piece HERE.
KEY POINTS:
*E-mails show that Deputy DNR director Joe Bindbeutel requested a copy of the withheld E.coli report to take to a meeting with Governor -- but it's not clear if Bindeutel ever actually took the report to the Governor.
*The Governor's office said the E.coli report was never discussed during the meeting in question.
*Minutes from a June 12th meeting between DNR officials included this label: "DNR/LOWA Meeting May Bacteria Test Results/Press Release Discussion."
*Bindbeutel is paraphrased as saying, "the recent water testing has drawn the attention of the Director of DNR as well as Governor Nixon," according to the minutes, which were taken by a LOWA volunteer.
*Bindbeutel goes on to say: "(DNR Director) Mark Templeton has reviewed the balance sheet from a business and scientific point of view and all believe that this (lake) asset needs to be protected. ... The bad perception by the public that would be created if the report was simply published without explanation of what the numbers mean."
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