Petaluma mismanaged water lab tests, whistleblower claims

A city employee has claimed he was wrongfully suspended after flagging water samples at the city’s Ellis Creek Laboratory.|

A Public Works and Utilities Department manager is suing the city, alleging wrongful suspension, discrimination, defamation and unjust retaliation in response to his whistleblowing efforts after uncovering numerous positive samples of bacteria in Petaluma’s water distribution systems.

According to a claim filed on Nov. 28, city officials allegedly placed Assistant Operations Manager Patrick Dirrane, 58, on administrative leave in February when he disclosed information about an unspecified activity that would have violated local, state and federal regulations to a government agency, which was not identified.

City officials then “formulated a scheme” to make Dirrane’s high-ranking classification unessential for operations to continue by downgrading a booster pump and misrepresenting information in a state report submitted in March, the claim said.

The saga allegedly began when Dirrane reported to his administrators sometime in 2015 or 2016 that the city’s Ellis Creek Laboratory was “deficient,” and there were “too many positive coliform samples, among other things.”

Coliform is an indicator organism that’s usually found in fecal matter, and signals disease-causing pathogens might be present in the water system.

Public Works Director Dan St. John declined to comment on the personnel components or any allegations in the claim, but said he’s never heard of a positive sample at the Ellis Creek Lab, which is subjected to heavy scrutiny by multiple agencies.

The city also commissions annual water quality reports, which are public and don’t change much year to year, he said.

“It’s all about protecting the water supply. These are federal standards,” St. John said. “They’re probably added onto by the state, but the basic requirements we’re talking about come out of the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

The claim, filed by San Rafael attorney Robert Jaret, said the date Dirrane reported his findings is unclear because pinpointing it would require additional review of documentation, and that can’t be done due to a “ransacking” of Dirrane’s office after he was placed on administrative leave.

Jaret declined to comment on the case, directing inquiries to what was stated in the comprehensive claim, which was received by the City Clerk’s Office on Dec. 3.

Attempts to reach Dirrane were unsuccessful.

When government code claims are submitted against a public agency, an investigation follows to uncover its merit, said City Attorney Eric Danly. At this stage, he said it would be premature to speculate or address any specifics.

“When we get those, we’re in some kind of investigatory search mode to determine that which has merit or not,” Danly said. “It’s pretty early in that process”

Dirrane was supposedly met with “resistance and unlawful retaliation” after notifying leadership staff about the positive samples and the subsequent recommendation he had received from a state employee to get a second opinion from a different laboratory.

The claim went on to say that the city “put politics and cost savings ahead of the law by not using an outside laboratory with the end result that it violated multiple statutes, violated Mr. Dirrane’s rights, and put the health of the citizens” at risk.

Specifics as to what retaliatory acts were taken, or other events that might have occurred between 2015 and February 2018 when Dirrane was ultimately put on administrative leave remains unclear.

Jaret obtained information through a public records request that shed light on a “scheme” to downgrade requirements for having a water systems operator with a Grade 5 Certificate. Dirrane is the only city employee with a D5 classification, the claim said.

According to state guidelines, water distribution systems are classified by population served and system complexity. Any population larger than 5 million requires a D5 operator.

Once Dirrane was placed on administrative leave, city officials “misrepresented multiple items” in a worksheet submitted to the state on March 19 in order to receive a lower grade, the claim said.

Additionally, a pump at the Stony Point Well was removed and replaced by one with a smaller motor to artificially downgrade its system from a D5 to D4, a move that would have cost thousands of dollars and required city council approval, the claim alleges.

Danly was unsure if council approval was a requisite for that type of action.

Former City Manager John Brown was named as the employee responsible for damages, although nearly two dozen other city employees were identified in the claim for publishing defamatory material over the last six months. Brown did not return a call seeking comment.

Even though Brown is retired, since the alleged actions were performed under the official scope of his duties, he will be entitled to the same protections as an active employee, Danly said.

Dirrane supposedly learned about the defamatory material that had been solicited by management staff during two interviews with an attorney in October. The allegations against him are wide-ranging and include specific instances of criminal misconduct, embezzlement, squandering of assets, and improper side jobs, according to the claim.

Jaret refuted those allegations as false.

A message left for interim City Manager Scott Brodhun was not returned.

(Contact News Editor Yousef Baig at yousef.baig@arguscourier.com or 776-8461, and on Twitter @YousefBaig.)

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