This city is using duct tape to solve water quality problems

A former Riviera Beach employee said the source of the water quality problems plaguing the city utility is a lack of maintenance at the utility’s only water treatment plant.

The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County is investigating the Riviera Beach Special Community District violation of state or federal water quality laws.

According to the documents, the state agency opened another investigation — the fourth within 12 months — to a worker’s complaint about unsafe conditions after he wrote about workers being burned by caustic lime dust in the air.

“The lime slaker is constantly leaking and needs cleaning, and splashes on us when we clean up the mess,” Robert Walker, a former Riviera Beach employee, said in his complaint to the health department. “We constantly get chemical lime burns on our skin. We breathe lime dust because there is no vacuum system to capture the dust in the air.”

WPTV’s Ethan Stein spoke with Walker, who said he took the photos at a water treatment plant this year where duct tape was used to secure the equipment. He said the machine would leak and hurt the employees.

“Workers deserve a clean work environment and they shouldn’t be covered in lime, get chemical burns on their skin and breathe in lime dust,” Walker said. “…He’s on fire. They just deserve better.”

In an email, a spokesman for the city of Riviera Beach said the health department conducted an inspection about 10 days ago. According to him, the agency found that its objects fully meet the requirements, and the conditions were assessed as satisfactory.

City officials provided WPTV with a document showing the city’s water treatment plant is in “satisfactory compliance” with regard to air pollution. However, the inspector still found excess residue on the ground floor and surfaces. They recommended proper cleaning, personal protective equipment for workers and repeated dust control.

SERVICE PROBLEMS

Walker said the lack of maintenance at the plant puts public safety at risk. He said the problem with the “lime room” is a pattern throughout the plant. According to him, in one case, reservoirs in the southern part of the city are rusting.

– On rusty surfaces, tetanus grows, I don’t know? – said Walker. “But I know I wouldn’t want to drink it.”

He said that he would bring water to work himself so as not to drink city water. Walker also said he would find cracks in city well caps. He said these cracks allow animal waste to enter the water supply system, but no repairs have been made.

“I mean, it’s just basic maintenance and it shouldn’t take long to fix,” Walker said. “…There’s no reason.”

City officials emphasized that the solution is a new treatment plant that will cost more than $300 million. Walker said the station is needed to meet the new regulations, but these are simple fixes that don’t require a lot of money, which he believes other utility districts routinely do.

October 2023 EPA inspection it was found that the system does not keep records of the maintenance performed.

“Other counties, when they need to do something, like maintenance, they do it,” he said. – It’s amazing. It’s like day and night.”

Serena Spates, spokeswoman for Riviera Beach, emphasized that the water is safe to drink and meets all applicable federal and state water quality standards.

“Our top priority at the Department of Public Utilities (USD) is to ensure safe, high-quality drinking water for all residents of Riviera Beach,” Speights said.

Walker said he did send maintenance requests to the top operators and the water plant superintendent, but he said those requests were passed upstairs and no work was done. WPTV reported that the water plant chief resigned Wednesday, but city officials did not say whether his resignation was voluntary or in lieu of termination.

Records show the city hired outside contractors for $1.2 million to install equipment to address a “significant backlog of maintenance work on the water treatment and distribution systems” as well as other services.

In September, City Manager Jonathan Evans acknowledged that the city is there is already equipment to solve some issues with their water, but it was never installed. According to him, the previous management tried to sell the equipment.

“The previous management preferred not to use it in terms of continuing to try to sell these commodities on the open market,” Evans said in September.

ABSENCE OF COMPLAINTS

A Riviera Beach representative said the email contained no documents, complaints or reports from Walker about unsafe working conditions.

Walker said the employees are not complaining about the conditions because they fear losing their jobs in his complaint to the health department.

A report by an an independent investigation revealed a culture of favoritism and retaliation that exist in the state of Riviera Beach. It said the city administration was negligent after receiving various complaints from employees.

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