Nixon: 'Missourians needlessly at risk'

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Missouri officials allowed people to swim for two weeks this spring in waters known to be tainted with E. coli bacteria, Gov. Jay Nixon said.

The governor made the announcement Wednesday, one day after learning that the water in the Lake of the Ozarks had four times the permissible amount of E. coli as early as May 18, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.

Nixon, who had previously said the beach had been closed after an E. coli spike in May, said Wednesday he had "unwittingly" spread inaccurate information, the newspaper said. The beach was not closed until June 5.

Nixon told reporters he has suspended Department of Natural Resources Director Mark Templeton for two weeks without pay, accusing Templeton of a lack of "institutional control" over his department.

The disclosure follows an earlier revelation that the department withheld a report indicated elevated bacteria levels near the lake prior to the Memorial Day weekend.

"Some Missourians were needlessly put at risk," Nixon said. "These were abysmal failures."