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Nixon's office denies seeing E. coli report

By Chris Blank - Associated Press

Published: Thursday, July 30, 2009 3:12 PM CDT

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's office said Wednesday that it was unaware of a report on dangerously high levels of E. coli in the Lake of the Ozarks until days before its release, despite a newspaper report that a state official sought a copy weeks earlier before a meeting in the governor's office.

E-mails obtained by the Springfield News-Leader indicate that Joe Bindbeutel, the former deputy director and general counsel for the Department of Natural Resources, sought the agency's E. coli report on June 3, one day before a meeting with an executive for a utilities trade group and an aide to Gov. Jay Nixon.

The department has come under fire for revelations that it withheld the report for a month. A Senate environmental committee has said it will investigate, and Attorney General Chris Koster is looking at whether state openrecords laws were violated.

Nixon spokesman Jack Cardetti told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the June 4 meeting focused on energy issues because Bindbeutel was a possible nominee for the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. Kristy Manning, the governor's deputy director of legislative affairs, also attended.

Cardetti said neither E. coli nor the Lake of the Ozarks was discussed and that Bindbeutel did not leave a copy of the report.

“He came straight to the meeting and left. It was his only meeting (with the governor's office) that day and at no time did the Lake of the Ozarks come up,” Cardetti said.

Nixon appointed Bindbeu- tel in June to the Administrative Hearing Commission, which considers disputes with state agencies. A call by the AP to Bindbeutel seeking comment was referred to the Department of Natural Resources.

Agency Director Mark Templeton said he did not know why Bindbeutel had sought the E. coli report for the June 4 meeting.

To view the entire article, please go to our e-edition.


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