Emails: Heitkamp Continued To Use NDSU Study Even After Being Told About Problems, Then Fibbed About It

We finally have some answers in the case of the mysteriously pulled North Dakota State University study into the economic impacts of rail delays, and they’re not pretty for Senator Heitkamp. Or NDSU for that matter.

For the uninitiated, back in early April Senator Heidi Heitkamp requested that NDSU take a look at what rail delays are doing for agriculture revenues. In late April NDSU sent Heitkamp a report finding tens of millions in lost revenues, but then we found out last week that NDSU had pulled the study just days after releasing it.

The university hasn’t exactly been forthcoming as to why they pulled it.

Yesterday I received a batch of emails about the study via open records request – I had asked for all emails between NDSU and Heitkamp’s office about the study – and we have some answers. But before we begin looking at emails, here’s Senator Heitkamp talking with Chris Berg from Valley News Live about why she continued to use the study after NDSU pulled it.

“Since they raised that caution with me,” Heitkamp tells Berg, referring to NDSU’s issues with the methodology, “I haven’t used the study. I didn’t use it before the [Surface Transportation Board].”

Heitkamp’s right. She didn’t use it before the Surface Transportation Board hearing, but she did use it after she was told by NDSU that they were rescinding the study in May, and it seems the only reason she didn’t use it before the Surface Transportation Board was that NDSU warned her again about using it in early September.

But between mid-May when Heitkmap was told about the problems with the study and early September when NDSU asked her again to stop using it, Heitkamp referenced the study repeatedly and as a result it got wide media coverage.

Heitkamp and her staffers seem to completely disregard NDSU’s concerns about the study. In fact, in the video above Heitkamp asserts that her office feels the study’s findings are still accurate. It all paints a picture of an opportunist politician more concerned about making headlines than getting the facts straight.

By the way, if you’re wondering why the study was pulled in the first place, look at page 3 of the embedded PDF below. Among other issues, the study assumed that the entire difference in crop revenues from 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 was due to rail delays. “This is a strong assumption,” a memo sent to Senator Heitkamp about the problems with the study states.

No kidding.

The full batch of emails I received from NDSU is below. Because this has all become a little convoluted, here’s a timeline for what happened complete with screenshots from the emails.

April 9th, 2014: Heitkamp staffer makes formal request for study.

April 29th, 2014: Heitkamp’s office sent executive summary of study.

May 2nd, 2014: Heitkamp announces study in a press release on her Senate website. Study gets wide coverage in the media.

May 6th 2014: NDSU economist Frayne Olson touts the study on Valley News Live with Chris Berg

 May 14th, 2014: NDSU tells Heitkamp’s office that study is being pulled

May 14th, 2014: Heitkamp staffer responds to study being pulled. “I don’t see how we can take them back.”

July 22nd, 2014: Heitkamp references study in press release without noting that it has been withdrawn

 

August 11th, 2014: Heitkamp references study in press release without noting that it has been withdrawn

August 28th, 2014: Heitkamp references study in press release without noting that it has been withdrawn

September 2nd, 2014: NDSU professor William Wilson tells Heitkamp staffer that the Senator continues to use NDSU study and has to stop

September 11th, 2014: Heitkamp staffer says the Senator didn’t use NDSU study in STB hearing

 September 12th, 2014: Heitkamp tells Chris Berg on camera that she hasn’t used study since NDSU pulled it

Here is the full batch of emails from NDSU given to me to fulfill an open records request:

NDSU Emails