NC Gov McCrory continues criticism of state scientists over coal ash contamination warnings
By Mark Binker and Tyler Dukes

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory for the first time Thursday personally addressed allegations by two state scientists who have said administration officials provided a "false narrative" to the public over how top administrators oversaw the development and then reversed warnings regarding well water potentially contaminated by coal ash.

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Rudo has been at the center of the controversy for more than a week after an environmental group suing the state and Duke Energy included a large portion of a deposition he gave in the lawsuit in a public court filing. In that sworn testimony, Rudo suggested that top administration officials, including state Health Director Dr. Randall Williams, acted against scientific evidence when they rolled back warnings to well owners who live near coal ash pits that their water may have unsafe levels of hexavalent chromium.

McCrory's administration responded with an assault on Rudo's work and character, issuing a barrage of news releases, statements, editorials and news conferences that questioned his account and his work. Statements by McCrory's chief of staff, agency spokesmen, Department of Environmental Quality Assistant Secretary Tom Reeder and Williams all claimed Rudo has acted alone to establish what levels of hexavalent chromium were toxic and was somehow acting without the knowledge of his superiors and colleagues.

That account has been disputed by previously released depositions by Davies and even Williams himself, who both testified under oath that DHHS and DEQ scientists developed safety thresholds for the potentially cancer-causing element.

Davies forcefully rebutted the claim from administration officials that Rudo acted alone in her resignation letter, saying that officials including former DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos and Williams were briefed on how the warnings were developed and why. She said an opinion piece issued by Reeder and Wiliams this week "misinforms the public," and added, "I cannot work for a Department and an Administration that deliberately misleads the public."

Read more at http://www.wral.com/mccrory-continues-criticism-of-administration-scientists-over-coal-ash-contamination-warnings/15920573/#QZTug2sK3eRxjowY.99