Now a story you’ll see on just one station: Hank uncovers a place in Boson where your tax dollars are going down the drain, and we do mean right down the drain. It’s an incredible waste of water you won’t believe and Hank’s caught it on camera.
Did Boston’s JFK federal building get a new fountain? Night after night after night, our cameras recorded what looks like a fountain right next to that building on Sudbury Street.
Water spewing into the air, on to the sidewalk, over the curb, across the street and down the drain. But this is not a fountain. This is the JFK building’s lawn sprinkler system. And it’s clearly broken.
It’s not just water getting wasted. It’s your money!
We found every gallon that wound up watering the concrete was paid for by your tax dollars.
The sprinkler system is supposed to water the lawn outside the building that houses the IRS and immigration office and homeland security. It’s operated by the federal General Services Administration, GSA. In the spectrum of other governmental problems, we know this is no Watergate–but wait.
Yeah–It is.
We noticed it…I mean, how could you miss it? And we watched these two uniformed guards amble up–gawk…and move on. What did they do? Well, two nights later, it was still gushing, and the night after that, too.
Becky Smith, Clean Water Action
“It’s higher than the lamppost!”
We showed the video to a water watchdog group:
Becky Smith, Clean Water Action
“That’s a real waste.”
They say: Uncle Sam should be watching his water bill.
Becky Smith, Clean Water Action
“This is a real disappointment to see our public buildings that taxpayers are paying for and resources like water that we all pay into going to waste like this.”
After 7 nights of watching dollars down the drain, we called GSA to report this little Watergate. We wondered: how long’s this been broken? How much is it costing?
GSA emailed:
“It’s difficult to estimate”
because
“We were not made aware of an issue until recently.”
Were we the ones who made you aware? We asked.
“Yes,” they replied. “And thank you.”
The GSA told us the sprinkler system is now repaired, and it’s turned off for the winter.