Jackson water employee fired after talking lead to media
Jonathan Yaeger, while working as an engineer-in-training with the Jackson Public Works Department, found lead materials during a water main replacement job on Church Street in February.
Startled by the shiny, corroded band of lead connecting two pieces of pipe together, he began informing the public of his discovery.
Now, the near-graduate is out of a job.
On March 24, the city fired Yaeger from his full-time position.
Yaeger's said that in his job he was responsible for inspecting new water lines and preparing contract documents, among other tasks. He had just acquired the responsibility of managing the city’s storm water permit and said he was even expecting a promotion.
“I was going to be the storm water guy,” Yaeger said.
At the tap: Jacksonians deal with lead in water
Public Works Director Kishia Powell terminated the Jackson State University student less than two weeks after he presented the lead joint to The Clarion-Ledger, which prompted a story about lead materials within the city’s water distribution system.
“I was disappointed in the decision of the director to, in my view, put the reputation of the city before the safety of the public,” Yaeger said. “I think what I did is ethically right.”
Mayor Tony Yarber’s spokeswoman, Shelia Byrd, did not return calls to The Clarion-Ledger on Tuesday, but emailed a statement. “It is City policy not to comment on personnel matters,” she wrote.
In a letter the city provided Yaeger at the time of his termination, Powell writes that Yaeger admitted to the department that he had spoken to a reporter and provided the lead joint to a noncity employee.
The attorney representing Yaeger, Louis Watson, argues the city is violating his client's First Amendment rights.
“He engaged in protected activity, freedom of speech,” Watson said. “They have terminated him here for speaking to the media.”
The city goes on to say that Yaeger’s actions placed the city “in a false light, which may be damaging to the reputation of the department.”
“(Y)our assertions were not accurate and lacked important context,” the letter reads. “You were not authorized to take the portion of the pipe joint nor provide this City property to a non-City employee.”
Yaeger says he obtained the pipe piece from a contractor who had planned to dispose of it. The contractor willingly gave the materials to him, Yaeger said.
When he first discovered the lead joint, Yaeger said he took his concerns to officials in his department, even offering to address the City Council, but they discouraged him from doing so.
“The advice of my supervisors was: Don’t talk to the press, never talk to the press,” Yaeger said. “I feel like I was basically asked to withhold information for the sake of the city’s reputation.”
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The Clarion-Ledger contacted Yaeger after learning he obtained the materials. Previously, city officials made no mention of lead within the distribution system and attributed high levels of lead discovered in taps across the city to individual homes’ plumbing.
“I made no speculations or ascertains that it is leaching,” Yaeger said, adding he only supplied The Clarion-Ledger the pipe piece to address the question of whether the lead could be coming from the distribution system.
Powell confirmed in a March 15 interview that the older cast-iron pipes in the city's distribution system contain lead jointsevery 20 feet. She was unable to say how much of the city is served by these materials or whetherthe city’s water makes contact with the lead joints.
Powell said she doesn’t believe the joints are contributing to the city’s problem with lead-contaminated drinking water because if they were, the city would see more samples across the city testing for higher levels of lead.
In the June sample of 58 homes, 90 percent contained lead. In the January and February sample of 102 homes, 65 percent contained lead.
Powell said the city is taking samples from the distribution system, but it has not yet released the results of that sampling.
The letter states Yaeger’s actions “have contributed to false information being provided to the citizens of Jackson as well as possibly creating unwarranted public fear.”
City officials have not specified what false information has been provided, and The Clarion-Ledger has not received any calls at any point from Jackson officials or the Public Works Department regarding any inaccuracies in its reporting on Jackson’s lead water issues.
The city also argues Yaeger violated the Code of Ethics for Engineers’ Rules of Practice, which states, “Engineers shall not reveal facts, data or information without the prior consent of the client or employer except as authorized or required by law of this Code, and Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful matter.”
“The nature of a whistle-blower is you’re unable to get the consent, therefore you go beyond what is employee protocol,” Yaeger said. “I think that as a public servant, my duty is to provide information that allows the public to make informed decisions, not to keep secrets for the sake of the city’s reputation.”
Yaeger’s attorney stresses his client is not yet a licensed engineer and that he never made any statements publicly. Plus, Powell confirmed — for the first time in public due to Yaeger’s actions — that the lead joints exist.
“What false information has he presented?” Watson said. “None.”
Yaeger will appear before a personnel board in coming weeks in an attempt to regain his position in public works.
Contact Anna Wolfe at (601) 961-7326 or awolfe@gannett.com. Follow @ayewolfe on Twitter.