Nixon’s credibility sinks in the Lake of the Ozarks
R.J. Matson/Post-Dispatch
This must be emphasized: Whatever Gov. Jay Nixon is saying this week, the Lake of the Ozarks is safe for fishing and boating. And nearly all of its 55,000 acres are safe for swimming, too. But more should be done to keep it safe.
Three million people a year visit the lake, enjoying everything from posh resorts and world-class golf courses to go-karts and funnel cakes. Tens of thousands of Missourians make their living, or part of it, from the tourism industry at the lake. The lake creates billions in economic impact.
Some of this now has been put at risk by two factors: (a) the historic casual attitude toward water quality in the lake and (b) a summer’s worth of bumbling by Mr. Nixon and his staff.
Some 400 separate septic and sewage systems, large and small, serve homes and businesses along the lake’s 92-mile main channel. Hundreds of other facilities have private septic systems. No one really knows how effective most of them are.
Water continually flows through the lake; its flow is controlled by two dams. But in small coves and places of heavy use, when rainfall has been scarce, high levels of fecal coliform bacteria can grow, causing the risk of illness to swimmers and waders. Nationally, e. coli is blamed for 500 deaths a year. It sickens thousands more.
Early this summer, the state Department of Natural Resources failed to close Public Beach No. 1 at Lake Ozarks State Park after tests showed e.coli contaminated water. It also refused to publish the results of private testing done at other sites. A tempest erupted, and Mr. Nixon reassigned a top DNR official to a different, better-paying job.
The Democratic governor spent the rest of the summer trying to defuse the furor; newspapers and a Republican-led state Senate committee kept it alive. Mr. Nixon repeatedly said DNR had fixed the problem. He held a press conference announcing a major effort to clean up the lake.
But last week Mr. Nixon reported that two beaches he said had been closed hadn’t been closed after all. People had swum in contaminated water for at least two weeks. And contrary to what Mr. Nixon had been saying, at least two people in his office knew that what he was saying wasn’t true.
Saying he was “angry” and “disgusted,” Mr. Nixon put Mark Templeton, the new DNR director and a newcomer to state government, on two weeks of unpaid leave. He did not discipline his staff members.
Since taking office in January, Mr. Nixon’s vast communications staff, comprised mostly of former campaign aides, has been utterly focused on “controlling the message,” even if meant not telling the truth.
This should have been simple. Back in May, the governor’s office could have said, “We’ve got a small problem at the lake, here’s what it is and here’s how we’re going to fix it.”
Instead the governor and his staff massaged it, spun it and hoped it would go away. Then, at his Sept. 23 press conference at the lake, Mr. Nixon said that “clearly” the lake was unclean and unsafe, which it’s not. He promised a big cleanup, but didn’t say how he’d pay for it. And a week later, his cronies admitted, “Well, we’ve been lying about it, so we’ll throw the new guy under the bus for two weeks.”
Instead of protecting the lake’s tourism business, Mr. Nixon and his staff have put it in jeopardy. And their “message control” has blown big holes in the governor’s credibility.
This is just another example of “business as usual” for a politician who consistently places his own self-interest before the public interest, often at the expense of someone else. Eventually, the list of loyal soldiers willing to fall on their sword will be exhausted.
Although I do not recall the frog-like Creature from the Black Lagoon ever speaking, it’s still a great cartoon. Perhaps Nixon’s toadies will keep him in the loop from now on.
Sure, you’re going tough on Nixon this year. I’ll bet you a box of donuts that you’ll forget all about this by 2012, and will be gushing about what an ethical and effective governor Mr. Nixon has been. After all, you did it for Blagojevich.
Come on folks,newspapers are suppose to do a little research. Instead of looking at the E. coli (fecal colidorm) contaminated sewage effluent released into the lake or E. coli contaminated stormwater runoff from sewage sludge (biosolids) dumped on farmland around the lake, you want to place the blame on home septage systems. DNR supports dumping sewage sludge on farmland as a cheap disposal method. E. coli doesn’t die very easily on farmland.
I had to quit farming 80 acres in Kansas City when I discovered both
E. coli and Salmonella at over 800,000 colonies per 100 grams of soil. This was cause by stormwater runoff a year after Kansas City last dumped sludge on its sludge farm. DNR and EPA suggested it was ok to sell farm produce from our pathogen contaminated farm as well as Kansas City’s sludge farm without warning the buyers.
DNR is in the business of permitting waste disposal — not protection public health, water and the environment
A few points:
(1) The Lake of the Ozarks is not nearly as unsafe for swimming as many think. I live at the Lake, and did many long (1.5-mile) swims this summer while training for triathlons, and never got sick. (My normal swim route takes me near the discharge points of four sewage treatment plants.) A friend of mine did an epic 20-mile, 14-1/2 hour swim last year and didn’t get sick. Granted, this is just anecdotal evidence, but if you can spend that much time in the water and not get sick, the water can’t be all that bad. I’ll grant that there are times (post heavy rains) and places (the backs of long coves with stagnant water) where discretion is necessary.
(2) I’m certain that there are private septic systems and sewage treatment plants that are inadequate or undersized, and thus release into the lake sewage that is not fully treated. However, even if you corrected problems with all of them, there are still “natural” sources of E.coli that will continue to pollute the Lake. For example, we now have Canada geese inhabiting the Lake year round, and the waste that they leave behind is unbelievable. I’m not certain of this, but I believe that Canada geese were seen near the public beaches where elevated E.coli levels were found in May and started this whole fiasco.
(3) The above editorial says, “But in small coves and places of heavy use, when rainfall has been scarce, high levels of fecal coliform bacteria can grow…” Actually, I believe that it’s heavy rainfall, not the lack of it, that is the problem, as heavy rainfall washes the bacteria off of shorelines and into the lake. That’s one reason why this problem occurred in May–typically our wettest month–and not during the summer.
(4) There was an article in The Wall Street Journal recently that reported on all the seriously bad bacteria (e.g. MRSA staph) that we come in contact with on a daily basis. After reading it, I realized that I’m probably more at risk from the bacteria on my computer keyboard than from swimming in the lake.
Considering Nixon is the state’s former attorney general, and as such was charged with protecting the public interest, I’d argue he should step down after this duplicity. What does his office’s action constitute other than attempting to mislead the public to others’ advantage — or, otherwise, flagrant fraud? In his time as attorney general, fraud was one key area in which Nixon was supposed to protect the public. Any credibility he had in having the public’s interest at heart has now completely evaporated. As I said, I would argue for resignation. But Nixon’s bowing out would leave a vacuum to be filled by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. As someone quite familiar with Kinder, I can say we’d be trading a politician who’s turned into an empty suit, and has now left us with a toxic tourist haven — or one perceived as such — for a toxic personality in the governor’s mansion. In effect, little would be gained, if anything. Better to just let Nixon’s term run out. After that, his career can sink, as it should.
Of note: there could be something of significance in Nixon’s depiction here. Supposedly, after the movie was filmed, the creature’s costume was discarded in a studio dumpster. A foreboding?
Nick I really don’t think it is possible for you to ever be happy with the press. The Nixon folks launch a cover up and the Post points it out and you are still unhappy. Messenger had a very good column comparing Nixon’s behavior to Blunt’s disgraceful behavior in the Eckersly matter and you are unhappy.
The point is that Governor Nixon’s conduct is shaky at best and reprehensible at worst in this matter. I didn’t vote for Nixon but I did vote for Governor Blunt. Only blindly partisan Republicans could defend Governor Blunt in the Eckersly matter. I think we have reached the point where only blindly partisan Democrats can defend Governor Nixon in this matter.
Mark B,
I totally agree with you.
They must not have told him about the bad drains before he bougth the place.