ferriday &8212; The Town of Ferriday fired its water supervisor Tuesday, but the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is confident the water supply is in good hands.

For now.

The DHH has four certification levels in each of three areas pertaining to water safety: production, treatment and distribution.

Required certification levels vary depending on the population of the town. The state requires Class II certification in all three areas for Ferriday, denoting the town as between 1,000 and 5,000 people.

Wilson, a 10-year employee of the water department and 5-year supervisor, holds Class IV ratings in all three areas, making him qualified to run a water department of any size.

&8220;He was overqualified,&8221; DHH regional administrator and medical director Dr. John Naponick said.

The person now manning the plant is not overqualified, holding a Class II certification in treatment but just Class I certifications in production and distribution.

Which doesn&8217;t make Naponick and regional engineer Michael Cazes happy, but neither is it cause for alarm.

&8220;Treatment is the most important part,&8221; Cazes said. &8220;If they didn&8217;t have the appropriate treatment level, then we&8217;d have a crisis.&8221;

The engineer in question, Gregory Griggs, is scheduled to take the Class II exams in both production, which involves drawing water from the Mississippi River, and distribution, the process by which treated water is distributed to the water mains.

The exams are scheduled for Jan.

27. Each test contains between 50-100 questions. Griggs will have four hours to complete each and needs a score of 70 percent to pass.

&8220;If he fails, the department (DHH) will get a hold of the council and the city will have to make an arrangement to get a certified operator in immediately.

Wilson was suspended without pay on Dec. 16 following an incident in which he authorized an operator to cut a lock off of a storage shed.

Wilson said another of the system&8217;s operators had the key and could not be reached over the radio. They needed to get into the shed in order to lend a part to a local plumber, which Wilson said is a common professional courtesy.

The field operator returned to the station, saw the shed unlocked and called Mayor Gene Allen, who suspended Wilson the next day.

&8220;There is a drawer full of locks at the station,&8221; Wilson said. &8220;I was going to put a new one on when I got in.&8221;

Allen said Wednesday that the offense was just one in a series of violations of town policy. He would not elaborate on other instances other than to say Wilson was &8220;not showing up for work.&8221;

Wilson, in an interview earlier in the day, said Allen would call the water department station to speak with him, but that the nature of his work led him all over the town.

&8220;He never called my cell phone,&8221; he said. &8220;He&8217;d call me at the station and if I wasn&8217;t there, he&8217;d say I wasn&8217;t at work.&8221;

A letter signed by Allen and delivered to Wilson by Ferriday Police Chief Robert Davis listed the cause as being &8220;based on your poor working ethics.&8221;

Alderman Johnnie Brown voted against the dismissal. He said he had no comment about the matter.

Alderman Glen Harris, who attended the meeting, left the meeting before the end of the executive session, thus missing the vote.

Wilson said he is exploring his legal options.

Naponick and Cazes said their department conducts field tests between six to eight times each month and was keeping a close eye on the situation.

&8220;We keep tabs on them more often than we do on places with less history,&8221; Naponick said.