Top Arapahoe County Manager Fired Over Paint Dumping
DENVER (CBS4) - Arapahoe County has fired a veteran supervisor following a CBS4 investigation that showed county workers dumping gallon after gallon of excess road paint in a field in eastern Arapahoe County.
The county terminated Road and Bridge foreman Mark Krumpelmann July 1 from his $60,000 a year job. Contacted at his home, Krumpelmann, who had been with Arapahoe County since 1987, told CBS4 his firing was based on "false information by a disgruntled employee, and it led to my being let go." Krumplemann declined to elaborate.
Sources familiar with the situation say a second employee was suspended for two days without pay for his actions.
The dumping, which took place in January, was at a yard leased by Arapahoe County at 4374 South County Road 137 in Bennett. It's at the intersection of Kiowa-Bennett Road and East Quincy Avenue and was videotaped by workers with Arapahoe County's Road and Bridge Department.
The property, known as the Kiowa-Bennett Yard, is used for storing old pavement and other supplies. But on the videotape obtained by CBS4, Arapahoe County's only truck used for striping roads and highways can be seen in the yard gushing gallon after gallon of yellow and white paint on to the dirt as workers stand nearby.
Workers who recorded the tape can be heard saying, "This is what was directed by our foreman and our supervisor. We all said we felt uncomfortable doing this."
CBS4 spoke to two of three men involved in the paint dumping. They asked their names not be used. Both claimed they strongly objected to the dumping and repeatedly voiced those objections to their supervisors, but administrators in the Road and Bridge department ordered them to do it.
"All of us were disgusted," one of the workers told CBS4.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has ordered Arapahoe County to conduct water and soil testing and clean up the site.
Via email, Warren Smith of CDPHE wrote, "We recently received the soil characterization plan and will review it at the same time we review the ground water monitoring plan. We expect to have comments on the plans by the end of the month, and if there are no significant issues requiring plan revisions, cleanup could begin by early August."
Andrea Rasizer, Communications Services Director for Arapahoe County, said she could not comment on the reported discipline, but she said the county does not condone what happened.
"Our employees did dispose of that paint in an improper manner. We want the citizens of Arapahoe County to know this is not how we do business. We regret this has happened and apologize for any concern we have caused."
