Milwaukee MMSD contractor Veolia defends water treatment management
Veolia Water defends its work on treatment plants
Veolia faces audit over mismanagement claims as its $700 million MMSD contract nears expiration.
MILWAUKEE - It is their job to filter waste from water in Milwaukee. They even turn that waste into a fertilizer, Milorganite, and thus, a profit.
Now, Veolia Water is trying to clear up the narrative around its company as it looks to secure another contract to operate and maintain the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's water treatment facilities.
Veolia Water
Veolia faces audit
What we know:
The company invited FOX6's Sam Kraemer and a few other members of the press to the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility for a guided tour.
Veolia is under a lot of pressure right now.
It is one of two companies, alongside Jacobs Solutions, that have submitted bids for MMSD's next 10-year contract. Veolia's current contract expires Feb. 28, 2028, and the next one will be worth around $700 million.
The company is also under audit after whistleblowers accused Veolia of intentional mismanagement of its facilities and equipment, which some have said contributed to the historic, widespread flooding events we've seen since August.
Veolia Water
More to the story
Dig deeper:
Tuesday, Veolia Water Vice President and General Manager Paul Keppler demonstrated his belief that there's more to the story than what's been shared.
From atop a building, Keppler walked us through the complex steps Veolia takes to treat wastewater on Jones Island.
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"You take a look down through – there's no water in it," Keppler said, pointing out basins along the west side of the plant that are intentionally empty for planned maintenance.
It's Keppler's job to ensure every inch of piping, filtering, and pumping keeps Milwaukee's water treatment system up and running.
Veolia said their facilities capture and clean 98 percent of the water that comes in.
Veolia Water
Keppler said the recent spotlight on the company doesn't reflect that.
"In any sort of operations and maintenance business, right, the good work often goes unnoticed," Keppler said.
Inside a different building — where the sludge that is separated from the water is eventually dried and turned into Milorganite — the age of this system really shows.
"MMSD figured this out 100 years ago that we could turn this into a Class A bio solid fertilizer, and that's what we continue to do to this day," Keppler said. "So, this facility went into place in '94. With that, a lot of the equipment you'll see in here is from 1994."
We noticed a label on one of the tires to a dryer. It was marked M-C-R-R, which means 'major capital repair or replacement', nearly eight years ago.
Under their contract with MMSD, the company pays for maintenance and repair under $25,000.
Veolia Water
So, MMSD would cover the bill for this tire project, but it doesn't appear to have been touched.
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"There's years of planning that need to go into that," Keppler said. "As far as dryer overhauls and dryer replacements, some of those components — they can't fit through the doors here, so we're going to have to make building modifications to be able to get it up to the second floor."
Improvements to be made
What we know:
Keppler said there are improvements to be made and that he welcomes a forthcoming, third-party audit of Veolia's operations.
MMSD announced earlier this month it had selected St. Paul, Minnesota-based ESM, Inc., to conduct the audit.
But to claims Veolia intentionally mismanaged equipment, contributing to the historic flooding seen, Keppler said that's not true.
"Any sort of allegation that we are intentionally trying to pass the buck back to the district is incorrect," Keppler said. "Any sort of allegation that we are intentionally not maintaining equipment is incorrect. Most of us live within this community as well. Most of us have neighbors and/or have experienced it ourselves — a basement backup, right — so it's not in anybody's best interest to inadequately maintain equipment."
Veolia Water
Keppler did say capacity fluctuates at both of the plants – Jones Island and South Shore – as they do maintenance. That can include preventative and reactionary maintenance.
While it sometimes takes years to plan, he said the company tries to do those projects during dry times and keep capacity open for rain events, if needed.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Sam Kraemer and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Veolia Vice President Paul Keppler, MMSD, whistleblowers and Veolia.