Supervisors Call for State Audit of MMSD

Jones Island Reclamation Facility. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

Milwaukee County supervisors are joining the call for an independent audit of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and Veolia, the private operator of the region’s two wastewater treatment facilities.

In April, the community organization Common Ground launched a campaign demanding an independent third-party audit of Veolia’s operation of the Jones Island and South Shore wastewater treatment facilities. The group is working with more than two dozen whistleblowers alleging Veolia is mismanaging the sewerage systems to save money, letting equipment fall into disrepair and running the facilities under capacity during heavy rainfall.

Nine supervisors — Jack Eckblad, Steven Shea, Caroline Gómez-Tom, Sky Capriolo, Felesia Martin, Juan Miguel Martinez, Shawn Rolland, Justin Bielinski and Kathleen Vincent — signed onto a public statement Monday, adding their voices to the demand and calling for the state’s Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct an independent audit.

“These concerns should be taken with the utmost seriousness. It is in Milwaukee County’s best interest to ensure our wastewater operations are conducted safely and transparently, and to maximize protection of our lake, our water and our basements,” the supervisors said. “Concerns this severe and systemic require a more robust, third-party audit of Veolia’s management of Milwaukee’s wastewater plants, and luckily, the Wisconsin State Legislative Audit Bureau’s 2002 audit of MMSD can serve as a blueprint.”

State lawmakers directed the 2002 audit following concerns about the operations of the sewerage district’s deep tunnels and sewer overflows. County supervisors say MMSD should work with the audit bureau to investigate facility operations before a new contract is awarded.

Veolia has held the contract to operate the MMSD facilities since 2008. The sewerage district is currently in the middle of a public procurement process for the next 10-year contract, beginning in 2028 and valued at about $700 million. The contract will be awarded in September.

Since Common Ground went public, MMSD has repeatedly claimed it is unaware of any of the allegations Common Ground and whistleblowers are bringing against the water treatment facilities. It recently attempted to launch an investigation into the claims using a Madison-based law firm, Lake Effect HR & Law. Common Ground called the investigation a “sham” aimed at identifying who the confidential whistleblowers are.

Veolia responded, alleging Common Ground is attempting to “sabotage” the procurement process and suggesting the whistleblower allegations are not credible and stem from past events.

Since the campaign launched, two whistleblowers have come forward publicly. On May 13, Common Ground released a letter from former Veolia employee Greg Gryskiewicz alleging widespread problems at both facilities, including a policy of running machines to failure and chronic staff turnover. He was afraid to speak up while he was still working for the company out of fear it could cost him his job, he said.

MMSD scuttled the investigation with Lake Effect HR & Law after Common Ground shot the idea down. After the release of Gryskiewicz’s letter, the sewerage district said it would need time to review the document and also expressed concern for the ongoing procurement process: “It’s a time-consuming effort for everyone involved and it must continue to be a fair process. MMSD cannot publicly comment on these accusations until after the procurement process is completed.”