According to an investigation by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, Rick Scott’s Department of Health delayed notifying Floridians their well water had been contaminated with dangerous cancer-causing chemicals for months. According to the report, health officials were aware of dangerous groundwater contamination at Ocala’s Florida State Fire College from carcinogenic flame retardant chemicals in early September and delayed releasing information, possibly in order to avoid bad publicity during Scott’s campaign for U.S. Senate. Department of Health deputy secretary Les Beitsch was abruptly fired after he voiced concern about the department’s delay in notifying residents threatened by the polluted wells. Letters were ultimately not sent notifying nearby residents of the issue until November 5th – the day before the election.
Sign the petition urging Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and federal agencies to fully investigate this crisis, whether Scott interfered, and the motive behind the suspicious firing of Department of Health deputy secretary Les Beitsch.
Petition To Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Attorney General
We the undersigned urge you to fully investigate the facts surrounding the Florida Department of Health’s failure to promptly notify residents of Ocala that their drinking water had been contaminated with dangerous levels of carcinogens, as reported by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.
Specifically, we call upon you to determine if health officials downplayed the health risk to impacted residents and delayed notifying them in order to avoid bad publicity for then-Gov. Rick Scott, whether Scott interfered, as well as the motive behind the abrupt and suspicious firing of Department of Health deputy secretary Les Beitsch.
Floridians deserve to know whether Florida’s Department of Health is jeopardizing the health of everyday Floridians at the behest of, or in order to protect, powerful politicians like former Governor, now U.S. Senator, Rick Scott.
