Mechanic’s transfer reveals troubled pit
STAMFORD — A city mechanic who photographed the improper dumping of sludge collected from catch basins claims he’s been transferred out of his job as punishment.
James Fasoli filed a complaint against the city saying, “I believe this transfer is retaliatory, harassing and discriminatory because I spoke out about the … reckless dumping and decrepit condition of the storm-drain material sludge dump pit” at the Magee Avenue transfer station.
Dana Sanders, business representative for IUOE Local 30 Operating Engineers, confirmed the union action.
“He did file a grievance that was submitted to Human Resources Thursday,” Sanders said.
According to a Sept. 12 letter from Interim Operations Director Laura Burwick, Fasoli is being moved from the solid waste division, where he said he does light repairs, to the vehicle maintenance division, where the work will be physically demanding.
“I’m going to go from changing air filters, hoses and windshield wipers to pulling transmissions and doing brake jobs,” the 74year-old Fasoli said.
Burwick’s letter was sent about three weeks after the Aug. 20 meeting of the Board of Representatives’ Operations Committee that included a discussion about conditions at the pit used to dispose of material vacuumed out of the city’s 11,000 catch basins.
During the meeting, Rep. Nina Sherwood, D-8, referenced photographs of sludge being dumped and spread in the transfer station parking lot and driveways instead of the pit.
Under terms of its state permit, the city uses vacuum trucks to clean the catch basins and bring the material to the transfer station so the liquid can be processed through the wastewater treatment plant, to prevent it from contaminating Long Island Sound.
“There are conflicting reports about whether the pit does what it’s supposed to do. There are multiple reports, going back at least a year, that trucks are dumping this sludge … in front of the pit,” Sherwood said during the meeting.
She and Rep. Marion McGarry, D-12, were “given pictures from July and August of trucks just dumping it onto the asphalt,” Sherwood said.
“Can I ask how you got these pictures?” Burwick said.
“They were given to us by someone on site,” Sherwood replied.
“An employee?” Burwick asked.
“That’s not appropriate,” McGarry said of the question.
‘Taken aback’
Later in the meeting, Rep. David Watkins, R-1, told Burwick, “I was a little bit taken aback by your inquiring where exactly these pictures were taken, and was it an employee.”
Burwick responded that she’s been told the pit works and, in four visits, did not see the “pooling effect” shown in the photos.
“So my questions were just trying to understand — is this old? Because there was a problem (that was) older,” Burwick said.
Dan Colleluori, supervisor of solid waste and recycling, said during the meeting that “the pit has been an issue for 10 years.”
It hasn’t worked properly for at least that long, Fasoli said.
“I brought it to their attention more than once and they didn’t listen,” he said. “It got to the point where I had to tell anybody who would listen.”
So he sent the photos to city representatives.
But his problems go deeper, Fasoli said.
Testy history
In his complaint, he wrote that when he first photographed sludge being dumped in the parking lot last year, he was confronted by the driver of one of the vacuum trucks that clean the catch basins. According to Fasoli, the man “threatened to smash my phone into my head.”
Fasoli claims the man said something similar two weeks later so he reported it to his supervisor, who told him his complaint was forwarded to Human Resources.
“Nothing came of it,” Fasoli said.
It isn’t the first time Fasoli has blown the whistle. Eight years ago, he provided information concerning the scrap metal scandal, which revealed that city employees were selling snowplows and other public property for scrap and not reporting the proceeds.
It sparked two investigations and a political firestorm that included lawsuits, ethics charges and resignations. The state’s attorney concluded there was no criminal wrongdoing because selling scrap for cash had been the practice for decades.
Re-reassigned
The scandal also resulted in a confrontation between Fasoli and Mike Scacco, who runs the Vehicle Maintenance Division where Fasoli has been reassigned.
Burwick wrote in her letter to Fasoli that the transfer “does not reflect your job performance or status with the City of Stamford.” It “is only a change in geographic location of your position.”
Fasoli disagrees. Vehicle Maintenance “is a department I transferred out of,” he said.
He has been transferred at least half a dozen times, he said.
“This year’s transfer seems to be in retaliation for complaining about the sludge pit,” he wrote. “So arbitrarily transfer me to a hostile work environment (?)”
Director of Legal Affairs Kathryn Emmett, who oversees Human Resources, said Friday she cannot comment on an active complaint.
Guns and keys
It all comes down to a pit that, officials agree, fails to do its job: pipe liquids to the plant for treatment, and separate solids so they can be disposed of with other waste.
“The vacuum trucks pull everything out of catch basins — cellphones, keys, guns — you name it,” Tyler Theder, compliance officer for the Storm Water Management Department, told representatives.
Watkins said the pit must be fixed.
“It mustn’t be the case that … there is a pool of something that is tracked all around by trucks and sits there for some period of time,” he said. “It’s a real problem, it’s been ongoing, and there’s been an awful lot of conversation. If this is the state of play after all that conversation, it’s a pretty big disappointment.”
Theder said the city has bonded $150,000 to repair the pit, but more is needed. Burwick said the pit works, albeit slowly, and a request will go out soon for firms able to redesign it.
In the meantime, new dumping procedures have been instituted, Theder said.
Fasoli said he learned from his union that there was no procedure before, but members were sent for training last week.
“So they are doing a better job now,” he said. “It’s just that it’s costing me a lot of aggravation.”