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Palm Beach County's Office of Inspector General finds employees at Riviera Beach's water utility did not carry out essential duties.
The allegations include failing to immediately report the presence of E. coli in the drinking water. A new report finds that on at least 130 occasions between January and September of last year, employees of the utility district failed to report or adequately supervise other staff responsible for reporting water testing results for wells and water distribution points to the Florida Department of Health, thus potentially putting residents' health at risk.
The report also finds that senior staff "ignored, instructed other staff to ignore, or provided misleading information" about water testing results to both the Department of Health and the public on several occasions.
The report states that there is sufficient information to refer the findings to health officials and law enforcement, as well as the State Attorney's Office to determine if criminal charges should be filed.
Included among those cited in the findings are three former employees...chief among them former Utility District Executive Director Michael Low and current Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Melvin Pinkney.