RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — A former Riviera Beach employee said a source for water quality issues plaguing the city's utility is a lack of maintenance on the utility's only water treatment plant.
The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County is investigating Riviera Beach's Special Utilities District for breaking state or federal laws related to water quality.
Documents show the state agency opened another investigation — the fourth within 12 months — into the employee's complaint about unsafe conditions after he wrote about employees suffering burns from caustic lime dust in the air.
"The lime slaker constantly leaks and requires clean up and gets splashed all over us when we clean up the mess," said Robert Walker, a former Riviera Beach employee, in his complaint to the health department. "We get lime chemical burns on our skin all the time. We breathe lime dust since the vacuum system to capture the dust in the air is non-existent."
WPTV's Ethan Stein spoke with Walker, who said he took these photos in the water treatment plant this year, where duct tape was used to fix equipment. He said the machine would leak and harm employees.
"The workers deserve a clean work environment and they shouldn't get covered with lime and get chemical burns on their skin and breathing lime dust," Walker said. "...It burns. It's just, they deserve better than that."
In an email, a spokesperson for the City of Riviera Beach said the health department performed an inspection about 10 days ago. It said the agency found its facilities were in full compliance and conditions were rated as satisfactory.
The city provided a document to WPTV showing the city's water treatment plant was in "satisfactory compliance" related to air pollution. However, the inspector did find excess residue on the ground floor and surfaces. They recommended a proper cleanup, PPE for employees and reusable dust control.
MAINTENANCE ISSUES
Walker said the lack of maintenance at the plant is putting public safety at risk. He said the issue with the "lime room" is a pattern throughout the plant. He said in one instance, the water basins in the southern part of the city are rusting.
“Does tetanus grow on rusty surfaces, I don’t know?" Walker said. "But I know that I wouldn’t want to drink it.”
He said he would bring his own water to work to avoid drinking city water. Walker also said he would find cracks in the covers of city wells. He said those cracks allow animal waste to enter the water system, but the fix never occurred.
“I mean that’s just simple, basic maintenance and it doesn’t take that long to fix,” Walker said. "...There's no reason for it."
City officials have stressed the solution is a new water treatment plant, which will cost over $300 million. Walker said the plant is needed to comply with newer regulations, but these are simple fixes that do not require significant money, which he sees other utility districts regularly complete.
An October 2023 EPA inspection found the system does not keep records of maintenance performed.
“Other districts, when they need things to get done like maintenance, they get it done," he said. "It’s amazing. It’s like night and day.”
Serena Spates, a Riviera Beach spokesperson, emphasized the water is safe to drink and meets all current and federal and state water quality standards.
"Our top priority at the Utility Services Department (USD) is to ensure safe, high-quality drinking water for all Riviera Beach residents," said Spates.
Walker said he did make maintenance requests to lead operators and the water plant superintendent, but he said those requests were taken upstairs and no work was performed. WPTV reported the water plant superintendent resigned on Wednesday, but the city didn't say if his resignation was voluntary or in lieu of termination.
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Records show the city has hired outside contractors for $1.2 million to install equipment to address "the significant backlog of maintenance work for the water treatment and distribution systems," along with other services.
In September, City Manager Jonathan Evans acknowledged the city was already in possession of equipment to solve some issues with their water, but it was never installed. He said prior leadership attempted to sell the equipment.
“There was a desire by previous leadership to not utilize that from the standpoint to look to invariably try to sell those items on the open market,” Evans said in September.
LACK OF COMPLAINTS
A Riviera Beach spokesperson said there is no record of documentation, complaints or communication from Walker about unsafe work conditions in an email.
Walker said employees aren't complaining about conditions because they are scared to lose their job in his complaint to the health department.
A report from an independent investigation found a culture of favoritism and retaliation existing within Riviera Beach staff. It said city administration was negligent after receiving various complaints from employees.
