MMSD agrees to withhold on finalizing new operations contract amid lawsuit from current operator

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Two key hearings played out September 14 that could determine the next steps for the future of deciding who operates the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s wastewater treatment facilities across Southeast Wisconsin.

While one took place at district (MMSD) headquarters and is part of a years-long contract procurement process, another took place in a court room following a lawsuit centered on that exact process filed by the current operator of the facilities.

Veolia Water Milwaukee, LLC, the branch of the France-based company which has operated the wastewater treatment plants on Jones Island in Milwaukee and at South Shore in Oak Creek since 2008 as Veolia North America, formally filed the suit against MMSD over its contract awarding process September 11. The suit accuses MMSD of being “predisposed to reaching a decision on a new operator regardless of the competitive merits of the proposals”, according to the filing.

Veolia is competing with Dallas-based Jacobs Solutions for the new 10-year contract beginning in 2028, the latter of whom received the recommendation of an ad hoc committee in August. Jacobs’ bid was lower in price than Veolia’s by about $54 million.

At a motion hearing September 14, a judge denied a motion by Veolia for a temporary restraining order, while also noting MMSD agreed not to enter a service agreement for the contract at issue “until the court has resolved the merits of [Veolia’s] request for injunctive relief”.

“Today the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin ordered a pause in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District procurement process so the issues Veolia has raised can be fully heard. We appreciate the Court’s careful consideration and look forward to the next steps in this case,” said Veolia spokesperson Adam Lisberg in a statement.

As the September 14 court hearing was underway, the MMSD Operations Committee voted to advance the ad hoc committee’s recommendation to the MMSD Commission without offering a recommendation of its own. A final vote that would grant MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer the authority to enter a service agreement with Jacobs Solutions is scheduled for September 28; at the motion hearing, MMSD’s legal counsel indicated a final service agreement has yet to be fully negotiated.

While the contract process which began with a Request for Proposals in 2024 had unfolded quietly for the first roughly two years, tensions have escalated in 2026 as advocacy group Common Ground has levied allegations of mismanagement at Veolia over its operations of Jones Island and South Shore, accusations Veolia has repeatedly denied. In July, Veolia sent Common Ground a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action over the group’s allegations.

The September 11 lawsuit also accused Common Ground of opening “private channels” of communication with MMSD well before beginning a public campaign regarding the mismanagement allegations in April of 2026, suggesting the advocacy group first received a complaint in 2023. Veolia called Common Ground’s process “inconsistent with a campaign motivated by urgent concern for the allegations themselves and instead reflects a campaign timed to influence the outcome of a specific, pending procurement decision”.

Common Ground has repeatedly stated it takes no position on who receives the new contract, but stated “we are not surprised” when the ad hoc committee recommended Jacobs over Veolia in August.

Veolia North America, which operates in more than 600 municipalities across the country, has previously filed suits in situations where it ultimately lost out on a new contract such as in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2024. That case was ultimately dismissed and Colorado-based Operations Management International now operates operations at the North and South Wastewater Treatment Plants in that city-parish.