A news story in Orlando yesterday featured hidden camera home video that purported to show an employee dumping waste onto the ground from a Roto-Rooter septic tank pumping truck. This occurred on Roto-Rooter's property. We are fully investigating the employee involved in the incident to determine if this has happened previously and why it ever occurred at all. We want the public to know that this activity was not sanctioned or condoned by any supervisors, managers or anyone else at Roto-Rooter besides the employee involved.

We were unaware of the activity until a reporter from the local TV station contacted me. He asked me to watch the video and I looked into the matter and gave him a statement in response. Unfortunately, the station used very little of our official statement and therefore probably left most viewers with an incomplete picture of what is being done to address the situation.

After seeing the tape, we interviewed the employee and suspended him without pay until a fair investigation can be completed. We immediately reached out to the Orange County Environmental Health Department to report the incident and requested a site inspection. We were told by the department that this is considered a small spill and were given specific instructions for dealing with the waste. We followed all of their instructions to the letter. Unbeknownst to us, the reporter did not consult the county authorities, instead they went to the state environmental authority with the tape. The state agency then contacted us to request a meeting and an inspection of the site. Of course, we agreed and a meeting is scheduled for next week. We are cooperating fully with the agency.

I am posting our complete statement that was given to the TV station in Orlando. The public and our loyal customers deserve to know that the company they've trusted since 1935 would never conspire to illegally dump waste or sludge. We have contracts with local facilities and that is where the dumping is supposed to take place.

"Our employees are not authorized to dump waste material anywhere other than approved facilities. We have reviewed the tape and, regretfully, have determined that the employee in the footage disregarded our established waste dumping rules and procedures. He has been suspended, pending an investigation into the matter. The employee explained that he had just emptied most of the contents of the truck into an approved holding tank (on the property) before attempting to extract tree roots that he believed were clogging the truck's pump. Our initial inquiry leads us to believe it is a small spill of household waste only and it is confined to our property. We have reported the incident to the Orange County Environmental Health Department and have requested that they advise us on appropriate cleanup practices. We intend to comply fully with their recommendations." - end of statement-

 

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