PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Board of Certification of Operators of Wastewater Treatment Facilities – the seven-member oversight panel that licenses wastewater plant operators – met in a closed-door session on Wednesday to discuss ongoing issues at the Woonsocket Wastewater Treatment Facility.
The morning meeting agenda at the R.I. Department of Environmental Management listed an item regarding “Staffing concerns…Hiring an unlicensed plant manager” and a “Matter of Permit Violations.”
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The city of Woonsocket and the two private contractors that operate the city’s wastewater treatment plant – Jacobs Engineering Inc. and Synagro Woonsocket, LLC – are being sued by the state’s Attorney General’s office and RIDEM over alleged improper wastewater discharges into the Blackstone River.
RIDEM spokesperson Michael Healey said on Thursday that the board discussed Synagro’s hiring of a new plant manager “without prior board approval to ensure a pathway to appropriate licensure,” and that the board is now seeking additional information before considering further action.
“A motion was made and passed that the board will issue a letter to Synagro with certain requirements that will be necessary to resolve the matter,” said Healey, who declined to disclose the approved requirements. “The matter is still pending.”
Healey added that the lawsuit alone required formal discussion though the board “routinely considers all circumstances when considering specific licensure impacts and does not necessarily act when no specific actions can be attributed to a specific operator that could likely have caused subject violations.”
The board did not take action on the attorney general’s lawsuit, said Healey, other than resolving to “monitor the Attorney General’s case as it progresses through the judicial process.
“If litigation finds any operator misconduct, the board will review and consider taking action if necessary,” he said.
RIAG spokesperson Brian Hodge said on April 4 that all three defendants in the civil case have until May 15 to respond to the 31-page complaint that was filed in Providence County Superior Court on March 15, which alleges violations of numerous state environmental laws in the operation of the facility, including the Clean Water Act, the State Freshwater Wetlands Act, and the Environmental Rights Act.
The complaint cites potential violations to “the common law of public nuisance” resulting from the discharges and failure to meet the conditions of the permit, which requires under the Clean Water Act that all wastewater generated by the facility be fully treated before being discharged into the Blackstone River.
The filing also alleges that “These intermittent discharges have impaired the ability of the public to recreate and fish on the Blackstone River, including disrupting small businesses dependent on ecotourism, subsistence fishing and Rhode Islander’s regular enjoyment of their natural resources.”
The state is demanding a jury trial and is seeking compensatory damages from the health impacts to residents, contamination of natural resources, testing costs, attorney’s fees and other relief deemed proper by the court.
The Blackstone River is home to more than 20 species of fish, as well as beavers, otters, snapping turtles, and a variety of birds, according to the National Parks Service.
The hiring practices of the companies have been a subject of concern among board members for years.
“It’s a reoccurring issue,” said board member C.J. Spellman, who acknowledged in a conversation on April 4 that the panel typically acts in an advisory capacity to RIDEM and recommendations to decertify individual employees for negligence is only undertaken after a “major offense.”
Board meeting minutes posted to the R.I. Secretary of State’s website provides insight into the panel’s frustration with the wastewater facility operators and their lack of transparency. The most recent example publicly available was a Dec. 7 meeting where board members questioned the hiring and qualifications of a Synagro employee who hadn’t secured a high school diploma.
According to the minutes, Synagro manager Ray Okocha “indicated that…conflicting information provided to the Board was due to an internal policy change” to requiring that operators possess a high school degree or a GED within one year of being hired, rather than their starting date.
“According to Mr. Okocha, this change occurred without his knowledge, so he assumed that the applicant indeed held a high school degree or equivalent when in fact that was not the case.”
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
