MILWAUKEE — A nonprofit advocacy group is calling for an independent audit of the company that runs the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's wastewater treatment system following concerns about mismanagement.
Common Ground says a former high-level MMSD employee raised concerns about mismanagement by that company, Veolia, following devastating flooding and backups. The whistleblower spoke at a Common Ground gathering Thursday night.
"Tonight, I'm going public to raise some very serious problems facing MMSD. I'm speaking out to ensure that MMSD's commission has the opportunity to investigate the mismanagement of our wastewater treatment facilities," they said. "These problems need to be brought out and addressed in public before MMSD commissioners select which private company will run our regional sewage system under the next operating contract."
Veolia is one of 2 companies in the running for a 10-year contract with MMSD worth $700 million. A decision is expected in September.
In a statement, Veolia called Common Ground's campaign against Veolia "a bad-faith attempt by a third party to damage Veolia's reputation and influence the outcome of MMSD's ongoing public procurement process."
Veolia added that the effort "relies almost entirely on the assertions of a former MMSD employee and lobbyist, who is neither an engineer nor a plant operator, and whose own statements demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of wastewater treatment."
MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer responded to the call for an audit.
"Well, we're open to an audit, but we need to know more details about what it is we want to look at. This is public money we would use to pay for that audit, so we want to make sure that we know what we're auditing, you know, what are the issues."
Veolia is a sponsor of TMJ4's annual Positively Milwaukee Awards.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
