Suspended manager claims Petaluma lab mishandled water quality tests

A manager in Petaluma’s Public Works and Utilities Department is suing the city, alleging he was wrongfully suspended after bringing to light what he said were numerous positive test results showing bacteria were present in Petaluma’s drinking water system.

Patrick Dirrane, the assistant operations manager, says a city laboratory mishandled test results for the water system and did not properly deal with the positive hits for coliform, an bacteria that could indicate harmful contamination linked human or animal feces, according to a three-page claim filed Dec. 3 with the city.

In the claim - a required precursor to his planned lawsuit - Dirrane, 58, said he was placed on administrative leave in February after he leveled unspecified allegations of misconduct with a separate, unnamed government agency.

The claim names as defendants the city and John Brown, the former city manager. In addition to wrongful suspension, Dirrane alleges discrimination, defamation and unjust retaliation in response to his whistleblower reports of test problems with the city water system.

Dirrane, who supervised water distribution and maintenance of the wastewater collection system, among other things, remains on suspension, according to the claim. He has worked for the city since 2011, beginning as a utility supervisor before a promotion to assistant operations manager in 2015.

The dispute stems from a report that Dirrane said he made to his superiors in 2015 or 2016 that the city’s Ellis Creek Laboratory was “deficient,” and there were “too many positive coliform samples, among other things.”

Public Works Director Dan St. John declined to comment on allegations presented in the claim, but said he’d was unaware of a positive coliform sample at the Ellis Creek lab, which he said is subjected to heavy scrutiny by multiple agencies.

The city also commissions annual water quality reports, which are public and don’t change much year to year, he said.

“It’s all about protecting the water supply. These are federal standards,” St. John said.

Dirrane’s claim, filed by San Rafael attorney Robert Jaret, said the date Dirrane reported his findings is unclear because pinpointing it would require additional review of documentation, and that can’t be done due to a “ransacking” of Dirrane’s office after he was placed on administrative leave.

Jaret declined to offer additional comment on the case.

Attempts to reach Dirrane were unsuccessful. His claim indicates he is seeking at least $25,000 in damages from the city. His 2017 pay was $108,607, according to the website Transparent California.

When such claims are submitted against a public agency, an investigation follows to uncover its merit, said City Attorney Eric Danly. At this stage, he said it would be premature to speculate or address any specifics.

“When we get those, we’re in some kind of investigatory search mode to determine that which has merit or not,” Danly said. “It’s pretty early in that process”

Dirrane alleges he was met with “resistance and unlawful retaliation” after notifying city leadership about the positive bacteria samples and the subsequent recommendation from a state employee to that the city should get a second opinion from a different laboratory.

Instead, the city “put politics and cost savings ahead of the law by not using an outside laboratory with the end result that it violated multiple statutes, violated Mr. Dirrane’s rights, and put the health of the citizens” at risk, according to the claim.

Through a public records request, Jaret said he uncovered what the claim called a “scheme” to downgrade a personnel requirement that required a water system operator with a Grade 5 Certificate to run the city operations, according to the claim. Dirrane was the only city employee with a D5 classification at the time, the claim said.

Such state requirements are based on population served and the complexity of the system. Any population larger than 5 million requires a D5 operator. Petaluma’s system serves nearly 62,000 customers.

Once Dirrane was placed on administrative leave, city officials “misrepresented multiple items” in a worksheet submitted to the state on March 19 in order to establish a lower grade certification, the claim said.

Additionally, a pump at the Stony Point Well was removed and replaced by one with a smaller motor, resulting in a downgrade to its system from a D5 to D4, a move that would have cost thousands of dollars and required City Council approval, the claim alleges.

Danly was unsure if council approval would be required for such operations changes and would not comment on the “scheme” alleged by Dirrane.

Brown, the city manager who retired in November, was named as the employee responsible for damages. Nearly two dozen other city employees were identified in the claim for publishing defamatory material over the last six months. Brown did not return a call this week seeking comment.

Brown’s legal defense will be handled by the city in the case, Danly said.

Dirrane’s claim alleges that city administrators previously solicited damning material about him, including alleged criminal misconduct, embezzlement, squandering of assets, and improper side jobs, according to the claim.

Jaret rejected those allegations as false.

A message left for interim City Manager Scott Brodhun was not returned.

(Contact News Editor Yousef Baig at yousef.baig@arguscourier.com or 776-8461, and on Twitter @YousefBaig.)