Due to high interest in the 4 slides that were withheld by WSU from our FOIA, we provide the following response from WSU.

Defendant Wayne  State  University submits the following Objections and Responses to Plaintiff’s First Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents:

Interrogatories and Document Requests

Regarding the power point presentation “The Challenge of Mitigating Risk Associated With Aging Drinking Water Infrastructure in Shrinking Cities: Lessons Learned from Flint” given on October 27, 2017, which was part of Plaintiff’s third FOIA request of March 3, 2018.

Question: Please provide the names and identifying information for all security personnel who controlled and/or monitored attendees to ensure that they did not photograph or otherwise record the presentation.

Response: Defendant has no knowledge or information about any security personnel who controlled and/or monitored attendees to this event to ensure that they did not photograph or otherwise record the presentation. In further answer as to Dr. McElmurry’s presentation, Defendant states that Dr. McElmurry verbally announced to his audience that no photographing of his slides or recording of his presentation was allowed. No attendee objected to Dr. McElmurry’s announcement; nor did Dr. McElmurry observe any attendee photographing or recording his presentation or slides.

Question: Please provide any materials provided to attendees informing them of any non­disclosure imposition placed on them at this event.

Response: With the exception of Dr. McElmurry’s verbal notification regarding his presentation, as stated in response to g. above, Defendant has no knowledge or information about any materials provided to attendees informing them of any non­ disclosure imposition placed on them at this event. In further answer as to Dr. McElmurry’s presentation, Defendant states that Dr. McElmurry’s intent in presenting at this symposium corresponded to the articulated purposes of this symposium, one of which was “… to share [his] experiences and identify collaborative opportunities.” See Exhibit One. Further, in participating as a speaker at this symposium, it was not Dr. McElmurry’s intent to publish his research “in a forum intended to convey the information to the academic community”. In conjunction with his purpose and intent, Dr. McElmurry verbally announced to his audience that no photographing  of his slides or recording of his presentation was allowed.   No  attendee objected to Dr. McElmurry’s announcement; nor did Dr. McElmurry observe any attendee photographing or recording his presentation or slides.

Question: Please provide the recording and/or text of any verbal notification given to attendees notifying them of any nondisclosure requirements or policy associated with attending this event.

Response: Defendant has no knowledge or information regarding any verbal notifications of nondisclosure requirements or policy associated with attending this event. In further answer as to Dr. McElmurry’s verbal notification regarding his presentation, Dr. McElmurry did not record his presentation or his verbal notification, and to Dr. McElmurry’s knowledge, no one else recorded his presentation or verbal notification.

Question: Please provide copies of any nondisclosure agreements associated with this event.

Response: Defendant has no knowledge or information regarding any nondisclosure agreements associated with this event.

Question: You have stated that “none of the slides remained on screen long enough for anyone to be able to retain the information presented in slides 22, 23, 25 and 33.” Please state with specificity how long these slides remained on screen.

Response: Defendant is only able to estimate the time devoted to each of the referenced slides. Defendant states that Dr. McElmurry was given a total of 60 minutes for his presentation, and his presentation contained 42 slides. Dr. McElmurry estimates that he used approximately 15 minutes of his allotted time for his introduction, his verbal request to not record or photograph his presentation, and for answering questions from the audience at the end of his presentation.   As a result, 45 minutes remained for the presentation of 42 slides, averaging one minute for each slide. Thus, Defendant estimates that slides 22, 23, 25 and 33 were on the screen approximately one minute each.

Question: In regards to the previous question, please state how it was determined what length of time was sufficient for the audience to see the slides, yet not “retain the information”.

Response: Defendant states that given the detailed nature of the redacted slides in his presentation and the limited time available to view each slide, Dr. McElmurry determined that, while individuals could retain the major points and thematic messages he was conveying, there was little or no risk that they would be able to retain the details contained in slides 22, 23, 25 and 33.

Documents provided by Dr. Marc Edwards