Poll: Is Sewerage Authority's Award for Exposing Scandal Deserved?

The news coming out of the Cinnaminson Sewerage Authority (CSA) here lately has focused mainly on of employees associated with the corruption scandal.

However last week, word came down that the CSA commissioners received an award for exposing and combating employee wrongdoing.

The honor tickled the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kevin Riordan, who penned this tongue-in-cheek column about it.

The honor is called the Wave Achievement Award and was bestowed on the commissioners by the Association of Environmental Authorities of New Jersey (AEANJ). The AEANJ is a statewide organization of water, wastewater and solid waste authorities.

Commissioner Thomas Kollar, who accepted the award on behalf of the five commissioners at an April 25 luncheon in Atlantic City, did not return calls for comment. However Peg Gallos, AEANJ executive director, said the board was honored “for doing the right thing in a difficult situation.”

“They reported it and they cooperated with the authorities,” Gallos said of CSA commissioners. “They also took some action to strengthen their rules in reference to some of those types of activities.”

According to a news release, AEANJ’s executive board said the commissioners’ actions “allowed law enforcement to get to the bottom of misconduct, hold those involved accountable through the criminal process, and afford ratepayers a good chance of recovering losses by way of a restitution order from the trail judge.”

Kollar said in the release there is “zero tolerance” for employee misconduct.

What do you think, Patch readers? Is this award deserved? Take our poll below.

For full coverage, visit Cinnaminson Patch's special Cinnaminson Sewerage Authority Scandal page.