New Evaluation Shows Veolia Achieved Strong Performance Operating MMSD’s Aging Wastewater System

Milwaukee - Veolia, the world's leading provider of water and wastewater products and services, operated the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) wastewater system consistent with industry standards according to a new evaluation of Veolia's compliance record for the past 10 years. The report found many of MMSD's most critical assets are operating well beyond their intended service lives, yet Veolia met MMSD's performance targets and environmental quality measures.

Exponent, a globally-recognized engineering and scientific consulting firm specializing in expert analysis of complex systems, evaluated Veolia's performance from 2016 to 2026 against the standards set in its contract with MMSD as well as environmental requirements. The evaluation was commissioned to provide an authoritative outside perspective on Veolia's performance, which had been questioned during MMSD's bidding process for a new operating contract. Exponent's report, available at this link, confirms that Veolia consistently met those standards:

• Veolia had 99.97% compliance with state permit effluent limits at the South Shore wastewater treatment plant and 99.94% compliance at the Jones Island plant, while meeting contractual plant-capacity requirements during every wet-weather event evaluated.
• Veolia maintained MMSD's system as required in the contract, despite MMSD's most critical assets being five years past their estimated useful lives on average.
• Veolia met MMSD's contractual requirements to operate wastewater treatment at its design capacity, except when restricted by pre-existing maintenance or repair activities, during wet weather events.
• The evaluation found no systemic deficiencies in Veolia's maintenance program and no evidence that equipment unavailability was caused by shortcomings in Veolia's operations.

"This evaluation report provides a comprehensive, data-driven review of a decade of Veolia's operation and maintenance of Milwaukee's Jones Island and South Shore facilities, and its findings stand in stark contrast to the misleading and biased allegations that have been made about Veolia's performance this year," said Joseph Tackett, CEO of North America Municipal Services for Veolia. "The public record and the evaluation report confirm that Veolia's employees operated these facilities responsibly and delivered performance results that directly contradict many of the accusations that have been leveled against them."

Report demonstrates consistent contractual compliance

The Exponent report was commissioned to provide an evaluation of Veolia's performance as MMSD's operations and maintenance partner, after the Milwaukee advocacy group Common Ground began amplifying misleading and false allegations against Veolia earlier this year. It is distinct from a performance audit MMSD commissioned from a separate vendor under pressure from Common Ground. Veolia has since taken legal action to block MMSD from contracting with another company to operate its system, citing evidence that MMSD ignored its own procurement rules, failed to independently evaluate bid proposals, and buckled under Common Ground's influence.

"The independent evaluation directly contradicts allegations that sought to portray Veolia employees as failing to comply with contractual requirements," said Rory Munns, Regional President of North America Municipal Services for Veolia. "In reality, the record shows a workforce that consistently delivered exceptional environmental compliance, met operational obligations during challenging wet-weather events, and maintained system performance despite the immense limitations of aging, MMSD-owned infrastructure."