Health Law

Missouri DNR Spokewoman Testifies on E. coli Cover-up

By Marler Clark

New information in a continuing story we have been following here: Susan Medley, the former spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR)  told Senate investigators that the delay in the release of information about high bacteria levels at Lake of the Ozarks "stemmed from a department failure to quickly gather information to put the contamination levels into a historical context" according to a Columbia Daily Tribune report.

I am nor really sure what that is supposed to mean.  It has been previously reported that the delays were aimed at protecting local businesses.  Medley did say she was in contact during the delay in the release of the information with officials at Gov. Jay Nixon's office. 

Also according to the report:

The delay in releasing the data was caused, Medley said, by the failure of other DNR officials to provide additional data she sought — information on rainfall that could affect the samples and a history of the data collection. Medley said that despite repeated requests to DNR Director Mark Templeton and then-deputy director Joe Bindbeutel, she didn't get the information she needed. Bindbeutel has since left the agency and has said he made a mistake by not getting the information out sooner.

E. coli is the term for a family of bacteria that include the dangerous and pathogenic E. coli O157:H7.   Generally, water testing conducted to ascertain levels of E. coli is not specific enough to differentiate among various strains. 

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on September 24, 2009 (boomark / email).