RICHMOND, Va. — The City of Richmond refused CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit's request for records about how much, if any, severance pay former Department of Public Utilities (DPU) Director April Bingham received following her post-Richmond Water Crisis resignation.
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula announced Bingham's resignation on Jan. 15.
When Hipolit filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information on any severance pay Bingham may have received, the city declined to release the records.
"The City has identified one responsive record that is being withheld as a contract settling public employee employment disputes, held confidential as personnel records under Va. Code Sec. 2.2-3705.1(1),” Richmond Senior Policy Advisor Megan Field wrote.
Bingham was in charge of the department in January when a power outage led to catastrophic failures at the city's water treatment plant, which rendered parts of the city without running water for days.
Mayor Avula has since named Scott Morris as the city's interim director of the Department of Public Utilities.
Hipolit has asked the city if they can provide the dollar amount, if there is one, as opposed to the records related to Bingham’s severance, and she is waiting to hear back.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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