Statements from MMSD Executive Director and Commission Chair

“Why wait 10 years to come forward with allegations that could have been addressed while he was still an MMSD employee? Or share with anyone on the Commission, which has oversight on MMSD? Steve knows me personally; he has my cell phone; he knows where I live; he knows how to get in touch with me if he seriously believed MMSD infrastructure and our waters and community were at risk throughout the past decade. Working with Common Ground to release this information today feels suspect. The Commission is poised to vote on a new 10-year contract soon, more than two years into a very thorough public procurement process, which has resulted in two finalists. In fact, the information he says has been happening since 2016 and never presented to the MMSD Commission have been things discussed at length in public session as well as through our closed session meetings over the existing Veolia contract. Commissioners discuss monthly reports on performance and maintenance metrics in our monthly public meetings, and if there was any credible evidence of mismanagement of billions of dollars of our public infrastrcture, the company would not be on the short list for another 10-year contract. The Commission is committed to continuing the contract procurement process in a fair, transparent, and balanced manner to best serve our water quality, community, and the taxpayers. During the years in question, MMSD and Veolia captured and cleaned the following percentages of water and wastewater:” MMSD Commission Chair, Corey Zetts

2015    98.99%

2016    99.84%

2017    99.99%

2018    98.37%

2019    99.35%

2020    97.27%

2021    99.33%

2022    98.82%

2023    99.67%

“I’m very disappointed to learn my former coworker, Steve Jacquart, has made these accusations, especially 10 years later and in the final weeks of the procurement for the next company to operate and maintain the regional wastewater system.

“Steve never said anything like this to me until I read it today.  He was our Intergovernmental Coordinator, which is a position that had nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of the wastewater system.  His only knowledge would come from hearsay.

“There are some instances when the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility was not at full capacity during a storm, but there are many reasons for that.  These include ongoing capital improvements performed by MMSD and higher influent loadings to the facility.

“Mr. Jacquart’s accusation that, “In 2016, Jones Island and South Shore Wastewater Treatment Facilities had massive breakdowns with processing biosolids,” is simply not supported by the facts.  In 2016 and 2017, MMSD captured and cleaned 99.8% and 99.999% of every drop of water that made it into MMSD’s regional wastewater system. In those same years, MMSD and Veolia Water’s performance was well within our permit limits.

“MMSD has not seen any of the documentation to support the claims from Common Ground that information was withheld from MMSD’s Commission. MMSD is an open book. We do not hide issues from our Commissioners or the public.

“Of course, MMSD is willing to perform a third party review, but we first need to better understand the specific accusations being made against Veolia.” – MMSD Executive Director, Kevin Shafer

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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RE: Common Ground Allegations of Veolia Mismanagement & Request for Audit