Water Works employee caught sleeping in parking lot
TRENTON » With all the issues piling at Trenton Water Works (TWW), one employee found time to take a nap.
A lifelong city resident said Friday that he saw a TWW worker parked at the Quick Chek near Brunswick Circle in Lawrence near the Trenton border between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on May 4. The employee inside the city-owned van was completely out like a light in the driver’s seat and the man took a couple pictures.
“I thought it was disgusting with what’s going on with the water here in Trenton,” the witness said. “To just be sleeping in a city vehicle like that right there in public is a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. No wonder we can’t get the water issue solved in Trenton — the Water Works employees are sleeping most of the day.” The resident said he tapped on the employee’s door and the worker “got nasty.”
“I asked him, ‘What are doing?’” the witness said. “He woke up for about 2 or 3 minutes. He gets nasty and then he goes back to sleep.”
It is not the best time for a TWW worker to get caught sleeping on the job.
The city has until the end of June to fix numerous issues at the troubled public utility. According to an agreement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Trenton must address staffing, operations and infrastructure problems by June 29.
Over the past year, the water utility has been plagued with many dilemmas, including water contamination, excessive lead levels, staffing shortages and discolored water, prompting boil water advisories. The city has also been blasted for its lack of notification to customers during emergencies.
In outgoing Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson’s tenure, TWW has received a whopping 23 violations, with 12 of those coming in 2017 — it’s worst year on record.
TWW provides water sourced from the Delaware River to capital city residents and suburban communities in Ewing, Lawrence, Hamilton and Hopewell townships.
At a state legislative hearing in March, Hamilton Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer called for a criminal probe into TWW.
“I do want to see the state be harsher on Trenton Water Works and on the individuals that have allowed the situation to continue,” the TWW customer said at the hearing. “There needs to be accountability of people being fired or a criminal investigation needs to happen as to why individuals would allow poor quality of water to go out to residents, knowing that the water was comprised.”
Last week’s nap was not the first time a TWW employee was captured snoozing at work.
In 2014, a video surfaced that showed a TWW working sleeping in a running backhoe.
City spokesman Michael Walker did not return a message seeking comment about the latest incident.