Greg Meszaros Steps Down
February 11, 2022
Greg Meszaros wrote in a letter dated Friday sent to Newsweek that he takes full responsibility “for any shortcomings at the Utility this past week.”
In a letter to City Manager Spencer Cronk, Meszaros wrote “I write to let you know that I will be stepping down from my job as the director of Austin Water,” Meszaros wrote. “I have come to this decision in consultation with my family and my circle of close and trusted friends. While I have loved my job as director, and I am exceedingly proud of all that my team and I have accomplished over the nearly 15 years I have served as Austin Water’s leader, I am ready to step aside.”
The city’s memo regarding the three Austin Water employees said they will be on leave pending an investigation into how the incident happened and who was responsible.
“A full review of this event has begun to determine the events leading up to the operational error at the Ullrich Treatment Plant and to identify corrective actions needed to prevent this from occurring again,” Meszaros said in the memo. “The employees will not perform plant operation duties until the investigation has been completed and management has assessed any applicable discipline in accordance with the Municipal Civil Services Rules.”
The memo also said there was no evidence of contaminants in the water. The boil water notice was necessary due to turbidity levels at Ullrich Water Treatment Plants exceeding regulations. The notice was a precaution, the memo added, as the risk of contaminants is higher when there are high levels of turbidity, or suspended particles, in the water.
“Austin Water has taken immediate steps to increase system redundancies that include increasing the frequency of turbidity audible alarms, automatic notification of supervisors for turbidity exceedances, and automatic shutdown of the filtration system when turbidities are exceeded,” he said in the memo.
The city council memo also states that over the next month, Austin water will beef up their communication procedures between shift changes and to plant superintendents.
City Manager Spencer Cronk said he will work with Meszaros during the transition, which includes selecting an interim director and a primary point of contact.
Last week’s citywide boil water notice was Austin’s third in the past four years.
Austin’s city council has a specially called meeting on Tuesday to discuss this emergency.
Chair of the Austin Water Oversight Committee Vanessa Fuentes told a local news station their regular scheduled meetings take place between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and the public meeting will likely be sometime in that window. Fuentes was newly appointed as chair last Thursday.
Austin Water serves more than 1 million people in the Austin area, covering 548 square miles. It has an annual operating budget of $654 million.