MMSD Commission Approves Audit of Sewerage District Contractor

Jones Island Reclamation Facility. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) Commission voted Monday to approve an audit of the district’s private wastewater operator.

The audit comes less than six weeks after the community organization Common Ground launched a public campaign calling for an audit of Veolia Water Milwaukee, alleging the contractor is mismanaging the sewerage district’s two wastewater treatment facilities, Jones Island and South Shore,

Common Ground is working with more than two dozen whistleblowers, two of whom have come forward publicly. The group charges that Veolia is mismanaging and failing to maintain equipment at the plants, leading them to run under capacity and contributing to the risk of sewer overflows and basement backups.

The audit, brought forward by MMSD Commission Chair Corey Zetts, will be conducted by a third-party contractor and overseen by an independent advisory committee made up of members without connections to MMSD or Veolia.

When the allegations were made public, MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer pushed back against Common Ground and the whistleblowers, and said more information was needed before an audit could occur. The sewerage district is in the final stages of a public bidding process. Veolia, which has operated the plants since 2008, is competing for the $700 million contract against Jacobs Solutions, a Dallas-based engineering services company.

Common Ground has demanded that an audit be conducted without involvement from MMSD staff and that the results be publicly released before a new contract is finalized. MMSD is planning to select a new contractor in September.

The MMSD Commission is an oversight body for the sewerage district. A majority of commissioners are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council. All are paid a $10,000 annual stipend. Commission Chair Zetts drafted the audit proposal after initially criticizing the Common Ground campaign.

Local elected officials on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and the Milwaukee Common Council added their voices to the call for an audit.

The commission unanimously approved the audit Monday. Immediately afterward, the commission went into closed session to discuss the likelihood of litigation related to the audit, the procurement process, and Veolia’s operations.

The MMSD Commission will direct the scope of the audit through an independent advisory committee made up of experts in water policy and engineering and local community members, Zetts said during the meeting Monday. MMSD Commissioner Jeff Stone, a consultant with Kapur & Associates and a former state representative, is Zetts’ choice to act as the liaison between the commission and the advisory committee.

The names of advisory committee members have not been released. Zetts said members will be drawn from across the state to ensure no one has any ties to MMSD or Veolia.

“We know some community members have been told or have heard that MMSD or its operator may be part of the reason for flooding in their community or their backups,” Zetts said. “We really want to make sure that this whole process is technically rigorous, future thinking, and also accessible and meaningful.”

Veolia has previously stated it would cooperate with the audit. “If MMSD wishes to pursue an audit with clear parameters and objectives, we will cooperate as a good partner and professional operator,” Senior Vice President of External Communications Adam Lisberg told Urban Milwaukee.

Common Ground has said it will support the audit if it is truly independent and if it protects workers who come forward to share their experience with the alleged problems at the treatment plants.

After the meeting Monday, Common Ground Founder Bob Connolly said Common Ground should have a representative on the advisory committee. “The reason this audit is taking place is because Common Ground brought it forward,” he said.

The organization would be able to bring information from whistleblowers to auditors and the advisory committee while protecting their identities, Connolly said.

“Common Ground needs to be represented on this thing,” he said. “We don’t have an ax to grind, we can be independent. We didn’t get into this for any reason other than getting to the truth.”