Dive Brief:
- Five city workers who work at a landfill were suspended last year for 40 hours without pay when it was discovered they had taken home items from the landfill.
- Now three of those employees are upset that firefighters who performed a similar act went without punishment when they removed substances from the city's toxic-waste program to be used at their residences.
- After the fire department launched an investigation into the misconduct, it was determined that there was no wrongdoing by the firefighters.
Dive Insight:
Plans are being made to change the language in a new policy that prohibits "junking" by city employees to include all workers, as the new policy is too vague in its wording. The environmental coordinator of the Solid Waste Division was reprimanded for not conveying the new policy to the firefighters. Items taken home by the landfill workers came from the site of a derailed train and included electronics such as laptops, cameras in addition to firearms and clothing.
