What's Going On In The DNR?

If you're asking that question - you're probably like most of us out there. We'd ask DNR Director and Nixon appointee Mark Templeton, but we're pretty sure he doesn't know either. 

To start with, there's the budget confusion. At one point the DNR needed higher fees, then they didn't, then they did, and now they don't. The discrepancies, which the KC Star has written about in detail, are a real cause for concern. 

When the DNR first tried layoffs in the Parks Department (miraculously failing to fire incompetent Nixon cronies), it raised questions about the long term planning capacity of the DNR's leadership. We suspected, and still do, that the firings were rushed out the door for political reasons. Not only was the execution botched, the DNR didn't take the time to consult the State Parks Advisory Board. 

Since round one, their main occupation has apparently been to send mixed signals about how much money they have and how much they need.  The Star writes:

Department officials had previously said the water pollution control program would be insolvent by August, and air and hazardous waste enforcement divisions would be out of money by June or July. The solid waste program is in dire financial straits as well.

In the words of one of Nixon's friends in the DNR, "we're broke." The question, and this isn't going to go away anytime soon, is whether Nixon's appointees can possibly have a handle on this situation if they can't communicate the current financial state of the DNR or its long term requirements. 

Raising further questions is the chromium 6 discharge from a plant north of Hannibal. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the chemical was released into the Mississippi river on May 20 and the DNR was notified on June 8. It took until December for Templeton to order water testing. While he claims that there was no threat to public health, when asked to explain why the tests were delayed he said "I don't know." 

It's one thing to have a problem. It's another thing entirely to have a problem and have no idea how to fix it. That points to a serious failure of leadership: the DNR needs to be able to move forward from this sort of issue. Because of the testing delay we'll never know for certain if there was a health risk, but the DNR leadership's modus operandi, to justify its testing failures by saying there maybe wasn't a health risk, isn't good enough. 

Is Mark Templeton really up to the task of running the DNR?