"JEFFERSON CITY -- The state allowed tourists at the Lake of the Ozarks to swim in waters that officials knew were infested with harmful E. coli bacteria for two weeks at the beginning of the summer tourist season, Gov. Jay Nixon said Wednesday.

The stunning revelation is separate from a previous disclosure that the Department of Natural Resources withheld a report showing elevated bacteria levels in many coves at the lake just before the Memorial Day weekend.

The new information shows that Public Beach 1 at Lake of the Ozarks had four times the allowable level of E. coli as early as May 18."

Tony Messenger reports for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch October 1, 2009. [2]