Secret "drinking room" discovered at Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) in Stickney, IL

They're paid to collect and clean Cook County's waste water. However, FOX 32 has learned that several employees of the taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Water Reclamation District are now in hot water after officials discovered a secret "drinking room" at the Stickney treatment plant.

FOX 32's investigator Dane Placko has exclusive details about how the scandal unfolded after a district officer accidentally broadcast himself using racial slurs on his police radio.

It's the largest water treatment plant in the world and is able to clean more than a billion gallons of wastewater a day.

Now, at least nine workers at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District plant in southwest suburban Stickney have been suspended as district officials launch a major investigation into the on the job drinking and racial slurs.

"We don't tolerate the type of behavior that has been communicated to me," said David St. Pierre, who is the MWRD executive director.

St. Pierre could not comment on the specifics of the investigation, but confirms it started ten days ago when a district police officer at the plant inadvertently keyed his police radio while giving a tour of the plant to a new officer.

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