City

Manager Releases Statement Regarding WWTP Mercury Incident,

Steps Taken to Improve Safety

15-031
March 4, 2015

EAST LANSING, Mich. East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas
read a statement at last nights East Lansing City Council
meeting, which is now being released to the public:

At this time, I would like to make a statement regarding our
Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the mercury incident that
occurred over a year ago as well as the steps we have taken to
improve overall plant safety. Because we are currently defendants
in a lawsuit, at the advice of our counsel I am limited in what I
can say. Despite this, because the issues involved are important
to our residents and employees, I feel it is necessary for you to
hear from me directly.

As a local government, we understand our central role in
protecting lives, property and being good stewards of the
environment. In safeguarding the environment, we provide refuse
and recycling services to our residents, treat waste water and
return clean water to the Red Cedar River. Over a year ago, a
mercury spill occurred at the WWTP.
MIOSHA, which is the state agency trained to investigate
incidents such as a mercury spill, came to our WWTP and conducted
a thorough investigation and made recommendations regarding the
appropriate cleanup and safety precautions to ensure against
future incidents. All of the recommendations by MIOSHA were
followed and implemented. Fortunately, from our review of the
relevant documentation, we can conclude that no employee suffered
any injury and there was no detectable damage to the environment.
All of the employees who were in any way in contact with the
mercury were tested and showed no adverse impact, and
measurements
of the outflow into the river showed no increased levels of
mercury.

In running a WWTP, such as in the City of East Lansing, accidents
of this nature do and will occur. Unfortunately, some mistakes
were made, but we are confident that we have learned from the
mistakes and have made all necessary corrections.

We have also received complaints from the WWTP staff regarding
asbestos in the WWTP. Like all older buildings and facilities,

the WWTP has asbestos in numerous areas, including insulation

around pipes. While the law does not require the removal of
asbestos, it does require an employer to have a survey
identifying the areas where the material is located, proper
signage in asbestos locations throughout the facility and
training for employees who work in capacities where they might
disturb that material. In anticipation of certain construction
projects, the WWTP management had a survey completed. It appears
that the survey may not have been properly shared with staff and
the signage did not meet all MIOSHA expectations. Appropriate
training and signage has now occurred. The WWTP management also
determined that it was in the best interest of the City, its
employees and the public to contract with an asbestos abatement
firm to remove all remaining asbestos in areas where there is any
potential for employee contact. The work on this $90,000 contract
is nearly complete.

The mercury spill referenced above occurred in October 2013. Our
investigation established that management was not informed about
the spill until March 2014. An internal investigation was
conducted by our Human Resources department with regard to
personnel matters. One supervisory employee did not return to the
WWTP after the investigation was completed. The former Department
of Public Works (DPW) director, Todd Sneathen, and the WWTP
superintendent, Catherine Garnham, elected to accept other career
opportunities and voluntarily resigned from their positions. Our
investigation established that both were hard-working and
dedicated employees who worked closely with City officials and
MIOSHA officials to remedy the mercury spill problems. The Human
Resources department immediately started a search to replace
these individuals and was successful in hiring WWTP
Superintendent Paul Stokes in August 2014, DPW Director Scott
House in October 2014 and WWTP Assistant Superintendent Todd
Nichols in October 2014. This new leadership group has the
combination of experience, training and ability to implement all
of the recommended improvements and upgrades.

The safety of both residents and employees is of great importance
to us. When management was notified of the mercury incident,
appropriate actions were immediately taken and additional safety
improvements have been implemented over the past year. We have
updated or adopted a number of safety-related policies, delivered
training to better prepare our employees and improved safety
through upgrades and modifications to the physical plant as well
as safety equipment. While we have made good progress, we still
believe we can do better. In consultation with DPW leadership, it

has been decided to utilize outside experts to do a full review

of plant safety. We have begun the process of requesting
proposals from firms and organizations that will review,
recommend and implement policies and practices related to overall
plant safety. This
work will take place over the coming months.

We also see direct examples that the work we are doing is paying
off.
This past December, we had an incident that tested our response.
An employee, while conducting regular plant maintenance, observed
what they thought could be a very small bead of mercury. The
employee notified the plant superintendent, who then sealed off
the area and contacted public health. No mercury was found, but
it demonstrates that the policies and awareness resulted in the
correct handling of a similar incident.

In reviewing safety concerns from the WWTP, I wanted to get a
sound understanding of what our safety experience has been at the
WWTP in recent history. I reviewed OSHA reportable injuries which
resulted in lost time from the last five years in order to get a
good picture of how employees have been affected. Lost time means
that an injury or illness resulted in an employee missing work in
order to recover. Over the last five years, we have had only one
injury that resulted in missed time from work. The injury, a back
strain, resulted in three days of missed work. The WWTP has 17
full-time employees. Over a five-year period, they would have
worked a total of 176,800 hours. That is the equivalent of one
person working 85 years, full time, with only one work-related
injury or illness that was serious enough to miss time from work.
We were certainly pleased with this initial analysis of the data,
which confirms that our employees work in a safe environment.

Mistakes have been made, but we are moving forward and making
good progress. We will continue to work with our employees and
MIOSHA to improve any areas that require further attention. We
take the safety of residents and our employees as the highest
priority. Our role as stewards of the environment will also
remain at the forefront. We appreciate Councils support over the
last year and look forward to continuing our progress.