MMSD Selects Company To Audit Sewerage Operations
Commission hires Minnesota-based consultant to audit work by French company Veolia.
Jones Island Reclamation Facility. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) has hired a Minnesota water-utility consultant to conduct an audit of its wastewater facilities in response to mounting public pressure.
EMA Inc., based in St. Paul, Minnesota, will conduct a third-party audit of the South Shore and Jones Island wastewater facilities. Both are operated by Veolia Water Milwaukee, a subsidiary of the French transnational corporation Veolia. The MMSD Commission released a statement announcing the selection Monday.
Veolia’s handling of the two wastewater plants came under intense public scrutiny earlier this year after the community organization Common Ground released whistleblower allegations of mismanagement. Whistleblowers, some of whom have since come forward publicly, allege Veolia is cutting corners to save money, leading to machine failure and causing the plants to run under capacity, increasing the risk of sewer overflows and basement backups.
Common Ground and the whistleblowers have repeatedly called for a third-party audit of the facilities. The coalition is calling for the audit results to be publicly released before MMSD approves a new 10-year contract for the private operation of its public water utilities. Veolia has held the contract since 2008. It is competing against the Dallas-based firm Jacobs Solutions for the next contract, valued at about $700 million. MMSD plans to select the contractor in September.
“The audit will include an examination of Veolia’s compliance with the terms of its contract with MMSD; evaluation of MMSD’s oversight of contract terms; and recommendations for the future to ensure regulatory compliance and address any social, environmental or economic risks,” the MMSD Commission said in a statement.
EMA was selected for its deep technical expertise and experience in water utility performance and compliance management. The firm is nationally recognized and was required to disclose any conflicts of interest with Veolia or Jacobs Solutions, according to the MMSD Commission.
“This independent, third-party audit affirms our commitment to meeting the highest standards in wastewater treatment, serving as stewards of a vital utility, and ensuring full transparency with those we serve,” MMSD Commission Chair Corey Zetts said in a statement. “In selecting EMA and our advisory committee, we prioritized expertise, independence, and freedom from conflicts of interest. This is the best path to objectively determine facts, evaluate potential concerns and ultimately ensure that MMSD operates effectively and efficiently to serve everyone in our region.”
The commission voted Monday to approve the contract with EMA Inc. and a five-person advisory commission to oversee the audit process.
The advisory commission includes Wanda Montgomery, Brown Deer village president; Tom Sigmund, retired executive director of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District; UW-Madison professor Manny Teodoro; and Jamaal Napoleon, people and culture learning capabilities lead.
MMSD commissioner Jeff Stone will liaise between the audit advisors and his fellow commissioners. The audit results will be communicated directly to the MMSD Commission. MMSD management officials, including its executive director Kevin Shafer, who was initially resistant to an audit, will not be involved in the process, according to the commission.
The MMSD commission did not provide a timeline for audit results in its announcement Monday.
“Common Ground looks forward to meeting with EMA to understand the scope of their work in order to see if our twenty-one whistleblowers will be willing to participate in a true audit,” Bob Connolly, founder of Common Ground, told Urban Milwaukee.
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