On Aug. 24, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) announced it has ordered Vermont dealer Champlain Valley Equipment to reinstate an employee the agency said was wrongfully terminated and pay more than $145,000 in back wages, damages and the employee’s attorneys’ fees.
According to OSHA, the employee reported Champlain Valley to the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in June 2022 after observing the company pumping wastewater from its service bays at its Berlin, Vt., facility onto ground adjacent to the Winooski River. The employee, who also notified their supervisors at Champlain Valley of the situation, was terminated shortly after.
The employee subsequently filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, and the agency’s investigation determined that Champlain Valley had violated the whistleblower provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA).
Via email, an OSHA spokesperson says both parties can file objections and request a hearing from an administrative law judge within 30 days of receipt of OSHA’s findings. Otherwise, the findings will become final. The spokesperson adds that while Champlain Valley has been ordered to reinstate the employee, “any employee has the right to decline a bona fide offer of reinstatement.”
In a story published by WCAX-TV of Burlinton, Vt., Brian Carpenter, owner of Champlain Valley Equipment, says the employee was not fired because of the incident. “There were preexisting performance issues,” he says. “We were dumping gray water. But we changed our process, and it wasn’t polluting. They tested the site and they didn’t find anything. Was there a better process? Yes, but within a day or two we have already re-engineered our process.”
Carpenter declined to be interviewed by Farm Equipment citing ongoing litigation regarding OSHA’s ruling, but he did confirm that an appeal was “in process.”
A report of the incident and subsequent investigation by the DEC said the complaint concerned the disposal of water from the equipment washing bay at the Berlin location. Wash water was collected in a sump pit, from which it was regularly pumped outside the building and allowed to run down the driveway. “Evidence of erosion indicates a flow path to the edge of the property and likely over the embankment toward the Winooski River,” the report says, with the investigator adding that they “saw no obvious hazmat residue along the discharge path.”
While no citations were issued, Champlain Valley Equipment was advised by investigators that such discharge to the ground was prohibited, and that “the contents of the sump pit … must be pumped out and hauled away by a hauler licensed to transport and dispose of hazmat.”
According to the report, guidance regarding the discharge of wash water due to vehicle washing was provided to Champlain Valley, and the company is investigating the installation of a holding tank for wash water that could later be hauled away.
As part of its orders, OSHA said Champlain Valley must remove any reference to the incident and the employee exercising their rights from their employment records, not retaliate or discriminate against the employee for the incident and conspicuously post a notice to employees regarding their rights under the SDWA and FWPCA.
