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CBS Baltimore
Baltimore's DPW workers describe "concerning" facility conditions detailed in report
By Jessica Albert,
6 days ago
Baltimore's DPW workers respond to poor working conditions 03:10
BALTIMORE -- Employees with Baltimore's Department of Public Works hope the deplorable conditions inside their facilities improve soon.
Photos from a Baltimore Inspector General report released this week appear to show decaying conditions inside nine DPW facilities, including broken sinks, lack of toilet paper and issues with air conditioning, among other problems.
"It's a sad statement," said DPW Worker Stancil McNair. "I'm getting ready to say, prisoners get treated better than we do, as far as, they get everything they're supposed to have."
McNair, who works in the solid waste department, said he's worked for DPW for more than a decade at the Cherry Hill Reedbird Yard and the Eastern Sanitation Yard at Bowley's Lane, two of the facilities named in the report.
DPW Deputy Director Richard Luna said the issues are being addressed and they plan to upgrade several of the facilities in the next few years.
"The Inspector General's report is concerning for all of us here at DPW," Luna said.
DPW Northwest Transfer Station 5030 Reisterstown Road
DPW Water and Wastewater Yard 2947 Washington Boulevard
"In the locker rooms, they have hot water running," Cumming said. "They had a fan barely blowing and they had an air conditioner that was only doing 84 degrees as well. The conditions were horrific."
Deputy Director Luna said DPW is going through the report and fixing some of the issues.
"Some of those minor, minor repairs, that need to be addressed at those facilities, and that's what we're currently working on, and we're making that a top priority here," Luna said.
$20 million for new facilities
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the Inspector General's report.
"We're talking about facilities that have zero, zilch, nada investment and now you have an administration that is actually going to be building new ones," Scott said.
Scott said $20 million will soon be invested into new facilities at many of the sites listed in the report.
According to DPW, those upgrades are in the design stage and should be completed early next year.
"We're going to pull the band-aid off and actually build the facilities that our workers deserve and not just consistently patch up buildings that are long passed their life cycle," Scott said.
The City Union of Baltimore, which represents some of the DPW workers, released a statement that accuses the city of not sufficiently supporting its workers with healthy and safe working environments.
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