More Whistleblowers Go Public With Allegations Against Veolia

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) Headquarters, 260 W. Seeboth St. Photo taken Jun 8, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

More whistleblowers have gone public with allegations of mismanagement against Veolia Water Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District‘s (MMSD) private wastewater plant operator.

Common Ground Southeastern Wisconsin is working with dozens of whistleblowers to bring the allegations to light. On Thursday, Common Ground released a report documenting new allegations from 20 additional whistleblowers, including claims that Veolia is falsifying equipment records and water-quality reports and failing to accurately document how much sewage is being dumped into Lake Michigan.

The whistleblowers, five of whom are publicly attaching their names to allegations, further allege there are unsafe working conditions at the district’s two water-treatment plants — Jones Island and South Shore — that they are running below capacity and operating with minimal oversight.

The new public whistleblowers are all retired or have left the company. They include 18-year treatment plant operator Pam Schultz, former treatment plant operator Jacob Holbert, 17-year powerhouse operator Robert Patterson, former Jones Island machinist Jim Robertson and Robert Blake, a 20-year plant employee who retired in 2015.

Veolia and MMSD have been facing public scrutiny for the operations of the two facilities since April, when Common Ground launched a campaign calling for an audit. The MMSD Commission, an oversight body largely appointed by the mayor of the City of Milwaukee, has since approved funding for a third-party audit. But MMSD is also in the final months of a long public bidding process for a new 10-year operations contract valued at $700 million. Veolia and the Dallas-based engineering firm Jacobs are both bidding on the contract.

Common Ground is now asking MMSD not to approve a new contract until the audit is finished and the results are made public. The district’s ad hoc committee charged with reviewing the bid proposals heard from Common Ground Thursday night during a public meeting on the procurement process, as well as from boosters for MMSD and Veolia representing local community organizations, businesses and nonprofits.

Based on information from whistleblowers, Common Ground charges that there is evidence Veolia is mismanaging the wastewater plants, causing them to run under capacity and contributing to a greater risk of basement backups and sewer overflows.

Dozens of Common Ground supporters packed a conference room at MMSD headquarters, 260 W. Seeboth St., for the public hearing Thursday. Also attending were officials representing Veolia and Jacobs.

Jennifer O’Hear, lead organizer with Common Ground, addressed the selection committee on behalf of Common Ground members Thursday. She noted that Common Ground has no financial relationship with MMSD or Veolia, unlike some organizations and individuals expected to express support for one or both.

“We came here tonight because we want the truth. We want to make sure that our tax dollars are not being wasted, and we want to protect our water and our lake,” O’Hear said. “Let’s be clear, we are here tonight to make sure the shit from our sewers does not end up in our lake.”

O’Hear asked the committee to consider the allegations brought by anonymous whistleblowers and former employees stepping forward publicly. “It takes courage for the workers to come forward. In many cases, they’re risking their livelihoods. Please do not dismiss them, and do not allow them to be retaliated against,” she said. 

The majority of the speakers who testified spoke to the valuable role of MMSD in the community, the competent leadership of Executive Director Kevin Shafer and did not express opposition to a third-party audit of the wastewater operations.

Dean Amhaus, founder of the Milwaukee Water Council, said an independent audit is a good idea and that MMSD is “an invaluable institution, and one that continues to exemplify excellence and stands among the very best wastewater management organizations in the world.”

David Fowler, a former MMSD employee, said he appreciated the “good-faith effort” of Common Ground, but said criticism of Shafer is “misguided” and that, “people can inexpertly argue how the plants are operated, but to allege that there has been mismanagement, incompetence, or wrongdoing, I believe flies in the face of all of MMSD’s great accomplishments.”

Representatives of Riverworks Development Corporation, including Executive Director Darryl Johnson and Community Development Manager Ruth Weill, praised MMSD’s work with their organization. Johnson said he thought an audit would “enlighten” the community on MMSD’s commitment to water quality.

Ted Chisholm, Executive Director of Bublr Bikes, said Veolia has been a generous supporter of the nonprofit. “They have stepped forward to help folks in our community access resources that would otherwise be unavailable, and they’ve done so over a substantial period of time and in a very consistent manner,” he said

Scott Royer, an operations consultant working for Veolia, said he is “disappointed in some of the assertions that have been made,” but he nonetheless said the audit is “a great idea” that will show MMSD is an “excellent organization with an excellent leader.”

Paul Keppler, a Veolia vice president and general manager working on the company’s bid proposal, said he takes the allegations against Veolia personally. Keppler said he has previously worked for the U.S. Navy on nuclear-powered vessels and that Veolia is the only other organization he has worked for with “this level of oversight, this level of detail and this level of professionalism.”

Veolia recently announced it would commission its own third-party audit to “supplement” the audit MMSD recently approved.

MMSD Commission Chair Corey Zetts authored the proposal for the MMSD audit. She told Urban Milwaukee she was unaware Veolia was now preparing its own audit.

Will audit be completed before new contract approved?

The ad hoc selection commission for the next contract is scheduled to issue a recommendation to the commission by Aug. 17.

The commission is chaired by trailblazing environmental lawyer Dennis Grzezinski and includes former Wauwatosa Mayor and MMSD Commissioner Kathy Ehley, former commission chair and CEO of Martinsek & Associates Kris Martinsek, former MMSD Commissioner and engineer Michael West and John Swan III, a union business representative for Laborers Local 113.

“We don’t know how long it’s going to take, and how much we’ll get through until we really go through scope negotiations with whoever is selected for the independent audit,” Zetts said.

Asked whether she would feel comfortable voting on a new contract if the results of the audit are still pending, Zetts said it will depend on what stage the audit is in and how much information it has produced for commissioners. “I think we’re going to have to take that decision before August,” she said.

Another commissioner, Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy, declined to say whether he would vote on a new contract with audit results still pending. “I wouldn’t confer with my other commissioners. I think at that point we would have to have a conversation as a commission, but I, as an individual, don’t get to make the decision,” he said.

After the ad-hoc committee adjourned, Grzezinski said the “comments and testimony were informative and not inflammatory and that was appreciated.” Asked whether he thought the selection process could be paused pending the outcome of the audit, as Common Ground is requesting, he said, “It’s interesting, I understand it, the committee will meet tomorrow, and we’ll decide how we should proceed.”

Asked whether he could vote on a recommendation if the results of the audit remain outstanding, Grzezinski said, “I can envision circumstances in which the answer would be ‘yes’ and I can envision circumstances in which the answer would be ‘hell no.’ It depends on a variety of things.”

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