Wisconsin lawmakers call for quick action to protect workers, residents from barrel refurbishing plants
Federal and state lawmakers in Wisconsin are calling on government agencies to investigate workplace safety and environmental concerns at a group of industrial drum reconditioning plants with several locations in the Milwaukee area.
“This situation merits your immediate attention,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, both Democrats, wrote in letters to four federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Baldwin wrote separately to the U.S. Justice Department as well.
Noting that operations at three Mid-America Steel Drum operations where chemical containers are recycled and refurbished pose risks to workers as well as the neighborhoods around the plants, the lawmakers called the practices “extremely troubling” and said these concerns “must be responded to immediately.”
The Mid-America Steel Drum plants are in Oak Creek, St. Francis and on the north side of Milwaukee. They are operated by Container Life Cycle Management (CLCM), which is majority owned by Ohio-based Greif Inc. CLCM also operates plants in Indianapolis, Memphis, Tenn., and Arkadelphia, Ark.
The letters from Baldwin and Moore cite an investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that found the CLCM facilities have disregarded safe practices for handling hazardous materials, harming workers and endangering those who live nearby, as well as the environment.
Workers in the plants have suffered chemical and heat-related burns, injuries from exploding barrels, breathing difficulties and other health problems. At the Milwaukee plant, the CLCM safety manager and workers said chemical residue was washed down a floor drain with wastewater into the public sewer. The St. Francis plant has had clean water violations, repeatedly exceeding limits for mercury discharges in recent years.
The findings were based on 16 hours of audio recordings by a whistle-blower, hundreds of pages of documents, including internal injury reports and safety audits as well as public records and interviews with recent workers, regulators and experts. The whistle-blower also contacted Baldwin's and Moore's offices.
The EPA said in an email to the Journal Sentinel that it is investigating but would not provide further details.
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In a letter to Gov. Scott Walker, Democratic state legislators called the Journal Sentinel’s report “shocking” and said practices at Mid-America Steel Drum Co. showed a “blatant disregard for the public health and safety.”
“I hope you will join our call for an investigation, accountability and immediate remediation efforts,” the lawmakers wrote. The Feb. 20 letter was signed by Sens. Chris Larson and Lena Taylor and Reps. David Bowen and Christine Sinicki, who represent the districts where the three Milwaukee plants are located.
Larson said his office is planning town hall meetings to inform residents living near the plants about what’s been happening and to gather input about any health concerns they might be experiencing. He said he wants accountability at all levels — from government agencies to corporate executives — to put an end to dangerous practices and ensure it doesn't happen again.
“If somebody does not go to jail at the end of this, it’s just a dollar amount on a spreadsheet that a future company will take into account, build into their expenses and then do the exact same thing,” Larson said.
State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said she contacted the state Department of Natural Resources to get more information.
"It's a very serious safety issue, no question about it," she said. "Accountability for the safety of workers is a major federal and state priority."
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson declined to comment, as did U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Janesville Republican whose district includes Oak Creek, home to one of the area plants.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said he supported the call for the investigations.
Greif Inc. has said the findings are outdated and that many improvements were made at the plants in 2016. Late last year, the company appointed an environmental officer to facilitate and oversee continued process improvements at the CLCM plants, officials said. Company representatives denied environmental wrongdoing.
"We want to assure members of Congress and the local communities that Greif is committed to the health and safety of our team members and the communities where we live and work," the company said in a statement. "At all of Greif’s facilities, including the CLCM joint venture reconditioning plants, the company works closely with local, state and federal officials to ensure compliance with all applicable regulations."
A recent City of Milwaukee inspection of the CLCM plant on the city's north side, on Cornell St. — a day after the Journal Sentinel's investigation was published — did not reveal "red flag" issues related to fire and neighborhood safety, according to Mayor Tom Barrett. Inspectors met with the plant manager and co-owner of the company. They did not interview any workers.
Barrett said he supports further investigation by all agencies tasked with protecting workers and the public.
"As a citizen, and as the mayor of a city where some of this is located, I am disturbed to know that people have potential health hazards that close to them," Barrett said.
Milwaukee resident Pauline Thomas, who lives about five blocks from the Cornell St. plant, said she worries about the company's practices, which have included setting large chemical containers, called "stinkers" by workers, outside to vent off their contents, and blasting black smoke from 5-foot fans straight at the neighborhood.
"I worry about any contaminants that could harm me or my daughter, especially my daughter because she's only 10 years old and is still developing," Thomas said.
John Diedrich and Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Read the investigation
To read the Journal Sentinel's "Burned" investigation, into safety hazards at drum reconditioning plants, go to jsonline.com/burned.
Have a tip or something to investigate?
Contact the Journal Sentinel Watchdog Team at 414-224-2071, email watchdog@journalsentinel.com or visit jsonline.com/watchdogtips. Read our work at jsonline.com/watchdog. Follow us on Twitter @js_watchdog.