Aberdeen water chief says City Hall complicit in faked quality reports at treatment plant

City administrator denies allegations, says investigation to commence

Aberdeen’s longtime water treatment superintendent says the Hub City’s aquatics operations are at risk of failing. And he’s placing the blame squarely on the city manager and alleging water quality reports at the plant are being faked.

Aberdeen Water Treatment Superintendent Robert Braun has quit the post he’s held since 2017, putting in his notice to the Aberdeen City Council Monday after accusing City Manager Joe Gaa of covering up fraudulent water quality testing reports and inept leadership that’s led to subpar staffing at the plant.

“The current staff — you’ve got one faking the lab work and you’ve got incompetence in maintenance,” Braun said, alleging that he’s been operating as nothing more than a quality control technician since alerting Gaa of another employee doctoring water treatment reports in May of 2021. “I was not allowed to fire that employee, and I was not allowed to set up a system to catch him on video.”

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