Nixon told the public that after the Department of Natural Resources launched an internal investigation into E.Coli-Gate, its habit of concealing health threats would be “fixed”. The investigation was a sham. KSDK has revealed that Travis Ford, one of Nixon’s investigators, was making misleading statements about a health risk at the St. Joe State Park – even as he was supposedly “investigating” the DNR.
St. Joe State Park is a very popular location for ATV riders, but it happens to be covered by approximately 75,000,000 tons of lead tailings left over from old mines. The ATVs kick up a lot of dust and lead particles, which people then breathe in.
The Missouri Department of Health says there is a health risk.
The EPA says there is a health risk.
The Missouri DNR? No health risk.By using a flawed study and ignoring other, more credible ones done by the EPA, the DNR decided it was okay to tell the public the park was totally safe. KSDK reporters practically had to chase down DNR spokesperson Travis Ford with proof the DNR was wrong to get him to admit there was a problem.
We might add that Ford’s efforts to throw them off his tracks were lacking. KSDK traced the painfully transparent evolution on of Ford’s statements on the park:
Statement one: (10/20/09) "The DNR puts park visitor health and safety first. Since 1993, the department has conducted a number of tests, and none has shown unacceptable levels of risk to park staff, on-site residents or recreational off-road vehicle users."
Statement two: (10/26/09) "Studies have shown that occasional off-road riding is acceptable, but more frequent riding could subject visitors to unacceptable levels of risk. That is a concern...."
DNR flyer sent (11/2/09) "Children six and younger should not play in the tailings (sandlike material in beaches, ORV areas and other locations in the park."
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Here’s the crucial point: Travis Ford was one of the three people Nixon appointed to do the DNR’s internal investigation on E.Coli-Gate.
So now we have Nixon-appointed investigators doing the exact same thing they were appointed to investigate others for: misleading the public about health risks. There’s one thing that’s for sure: if Nixon was looking for someone to do a whitewash investigation of the DNR, Travis Ford would have been at the top of the list.
Ford’s involvement also goes a long way towards explaining why the internal investigation never produced a written report or anything that could be examined by the public. It was never meant to create any real results: it was a façade designed to protect Nixon appointees at the cost of the public safety.
The Nixon administration has proved, once again, that it placed newspaper headlines before all else. The DNR has always had problems, but Nixon’s political maneuvering is only making things worse.
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