Accusations flow at Hamilton’s water and wastewater department
January 4, 2010
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
A former director of water and wastewater at the city of Hamilton in southern Ontario caused a stir in Decembe...
A former director of water and wastewater at the city of Hamilton in southern Ontario caused a stir in December after widely circulating an e-mail criticizing the way the department has handled some of its affairs.
The e-mail was from Abdul Khan, P.Eng., who was the director of Hamilton’s water and wastewater department for four years until his departure in June 2009. He sent the e-mail to city officials, the city’s medical officer of health, as well as various media outlets and the Hamilton Spectator, on December 9.
Kahn has a long list of allegations, but his first point objected to a decision to select a membrane treatment system for the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant. He also made accusations about applications for federal stimulus funding, and said the department employees once used funds from the sale of scrap metal for entertainment (which turned out to be a staff barbecue).
The city has launched an investigation.
Kahn is claiming that he sent the e-mail because as a licensed professional engineer he has “a duty to report and provide complete information to the public.”
Kahn was terminated from his position in Hamilton due to restructuring and now lives in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
