Nixon responds to "cover up" allegations and pollution concerns

KSDK - Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is speaking out about an investigation into Missouri's Department of Natural Resources.

NewsChannel 5 caught up with the Governor Wednesday.

We also questioned Governor Nixon about concerns over pollution in a west St. Louis County creek, called Keifer Creek, which runs through Castlewood State Park.

It is a stream that people and their pets and children often play in during warm weather.

Ten years of government data shows the creek is highly polluted with E. Coli bacteria.

An environmental policy group that's been looking into the pollution believes the state has known about the sewage pollution for about a decade, but has done nothing to alert the public, about what it calls "potentially life threatening" water that can make people and animals sick.

The group, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, believes the pollution is coming from old septic tanks from properties upstream from the state park.

Earlier this week a Missouri Department of Natural Resources spokesman admitted only that, "the state has known" about high bacteria levels in the creek.

The DNR spokesman says health warning signs have not been posted along Keifer Creek in the past because it is not a designated state park swimming area.

Wednesday Missouri's Governor would not commit to posting warning signs along Keifer Creek.

Nixon said he'd not yet been briefed on the creek.

So we asked him to sit down with us, one-on-one, when he is briefed.

But Nixon would not commit to that either.

Instead Nixon told us, "There will be a myriad of opportunities...to interview the Governor on these issues."

"I'll get briefed up on these, and clearly we'll look at various areas around the state. There's a lot of environmental challenges all throughout the state, and we are going to make sure we have the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Health, health departments, and others that are working in concert, to make sure that those are cleaned up and operating fairly," Nixon said.

A DNR spokesman tells us the governor's office was alerted about high levels of E. Coli pollution in the creek, starting back in September, when a concerned St. Louis County resident, named Steve Seyer contacted the governor's office.

"Missouri does have a long standing problem with challenges in water quality. And it is something that we're clearly looking at. It's got our attention. Not only at the Lake of the Ozarks but throughout the state," Nixon told us Wednesday.
Meanwhile a Missouri State Senate committee is investigating how DNR handles E. coli tests.

The probe started after DNR recently waited about a month to report high bacteria levels at the Lake of the Ozarks.

So far the Associated Press is reporting that state Republican Senator Brad Lager says his committee's probe has been hindered by DNR leaders and possibly others.

The AP reports Lager believes there's an "organized cover-up" and an outside investigation might be necessary.

But Governor Nixon says DNR and his administration are cooperating with the investigation.

"I'm focused on clean water. You know they've asked for a number of things, we've provided them over 200 thousand documents, they've been interviewing people, you know every day. They've had access to all this sort of stuff. I think that the sooner we get to what's the legislative solution here, if they've got some sort of legislative solution the better off we all are," Nixon told us Wednesday.

Governor Nixon recently suspended his DNR Director.

"Obviously we have some short term (DNR) management issues that we're going to deal with over the next week or ten days, but the longer term picture is about what can we do to make sure that we have clean water? What can we do to make sure that Missourians are drinking clean water? are swimming in clean water?" Nixon said Wednesday.

"All of that is going to require a significant amount of energy and effort not only by the Executive Branch, but by the Legislative Branch to assist us. To make sure that we strengthen our laws and provide the resources to make sure that we can give the people of Missouri what they deserve," Nixon added, when asked about water pollution, and DNR action statewide.