In early August, Dr. Megan Davies- North Carolina’s state epidemiologist- resigned her position stating she wouldn’t work for a department and administration that “deliberately misleads the public.” Her resignation came after an editorial by top health and environment officials said she had, ‘undermined the work of public health professionals”.
And all this “he said/she said” business started because of some tests of private wells near Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds.
From the article:
“State Democrats called Thursday for an investigation of whether Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, a former Duke employee, tampered with rules that were applied to tests that found hundreds of contaminated wells.
McCrory’s re-election campaign, meanwhile, blamed the governor’s Democratic opponent, Attorney General Roy Cooper, for ignoring coal ash problems over decades.”
(See? They aren’t the only kids fighting- does ANYONE have the capacity to take responsibility for what’s going on?)
Here’s how it breaks down:
- An editorial attacked state toxicologist Kenneth Rudo (who worked Dr. Davies and advised many well owners near Duke’s power plants not to drink their water) criticizing his “unprofessional approach,” the “inconsistencies in his scientific conclusions” and the “unnecessary fear and confusion” they feel he encouraged.
- Gov. McCrory’s office accuses Rudo of lying under oath in a lawsuit deposition.
- Nearly 400 well owners were advised, last year, not to drink their water (due to contaminants vanadium and hexavalent chromium) but the state health director rescinded the advisories.
- North Carolina’s Democratic Party says Davies’ resignation raises questions about whether or not McCrory’s administration influenced the well tests to benefit Duke.
- McCrory’s office says in six-page press release that Cooper “ignored the coal ash problem for decades and even fought cleanup efforts as attorney general. Like on so many other issues, if Roy Cooper did his job as attorney general for the past 16 years, the entire coal ash issue could have been avoided.” (ouch)
- McCrory campaign charges that Cooper and former Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s administration agreed to legislation that exempted coal ash from tougher landfill rules and shielded Duke from fines for groundwater contamination and fought cleanup efforts. Says Cooper didn’t support coal ash regulation when he previously served as a state legislator.
- Cooper responds, “Once again, Gov. McCrory’s only response to scandal within his administration is to point fingers and howl ‘conspiracy’. The governor’s top water scientist has just resigned after accusing the McCrory administration of intentionally misleading people. This is a serious accusation, and families deserve both answers and an assurance that their drinking water is safe.”
Whew. I honestly didn’t think we would get through that. Its no wonder then that Dr Davies resigned. How could you work with people that behaved like that?
From the article:
“The overall picture it painted was that public health in North Carolina whether state or local is done arbitrarily and unprofessionally, and that completely undermines the public confidence in that system,” Davies said in an interview. “That editorial felt like an assault on the integrity of public health professionals in the state, and Dr. Rudo was the one that they mentioned.”
Source: The Charlotte Observer
