All language subtitles for Undercover Boss USA S2E19 Synagro

Male announcer: Americans
are worried about the economy.

Many of them wonder if our
corporate and elected leaders

have the answers
to our problems.

In these tough times,

some bosses
are taking radical steps

to discover how to improve
their companies.

Each week, we follow the head
of a major organization

as they work undercover
alongside their own staff.

Undercover Boss 2x19
Synagro
Original Air Date on March 27, 2011

This week, Undercover Boss's
dirtiest mission yet.

Oh, what is all this?

Yeah, that's, um, sludge.

Announcer: The President
and CEO of Synagro,

America's largest waste
treatment corporation,

poses as a former
chemical plant worker

looking to change his ways.

Formerly.
A recovering one.

[Dramatic music]

Announcer:
The boss will trade in

his motorcycle
and personal aircraft

for a bulldozer
and rubber gloves.

I should have gotten me
one of them long-sleeved shirts.

Come on.

Announcer: By working
on the front lines,

he'll get an up-close look
at his own company.

That's really clumpy.

Never in my life
did I think

I would be grabbing sludge
with my bare hands.

In fact, it made me
pretty damn uncomfortable.

Watch your step.

This is when
the fun begins, buddy.

Announcer: Will he
be able to handle

being waist deep
in his own business?

Yeah, I definitely
want to see this.

Reach more down
in this thing.

I had no idea
what I was in store for.

Announcer: Find out next
on Undercover Boss.

-- sync, corrected by elderman --

♪ ♪

Announcer:
With over 860 employees

and facilities operating
in 34 states,

Synagro is the largest
waste treatment corporation

in America today.

And at the head of this $350
million business is one man.

I'm Bill Massa, the President
and CEO of Synagro.

Synagro is the largest waste
water treatment company today.

I've been the CEO of Synagro
for a little less than one year.

I've had some interesting jobs
in my career.

Never did I think I would
wind up in the poop industry.

Synagro takes waste water
from the city and treats it.

Waste water is what goes down
the toilet.

Just imagine for a minute,
if you would,

what would happen
if that material

just kept piling up
and piling up and piling up.

All those sewers
have to go someplace,

so we've taken that material
and take the water out of it

and get it down to a solid,
treat it,

and then find
a beneficial use for it

such as green energy,
fertilizer, composting.

So a wide range
of different things

that can be done with it.

Like probably
most everyone else,

when I first found out what
Synagro did, I was astonished.

I had no idea
that that goes on.

But using human waste
as fertilizer

is something that's been
going on for thousands of years.

In fact, George Washington
used it at Mount Vernon.

And the more
that we can recycle,

the less of an impact we'll have
on the planet going forward.

I was born
in Brooklyn, New York.

I had a middle class
upbringing.

I paid for my way
through college

through a Navy scholarship.

I was in nuclear submarines
for seven years.

I've worked in everything from
biotech and pharmaceuticals,

the chemical industry,

where I worked
for about 15 years.

The environment wasn't
at the top of their list.

It wasn't a big priority
for them.

I spent the first 15 years
of my career

polluting the earth,
and now, hopefully,

in the next 15 years,
cleaning it up.

A lot of bad things had happened
in the previous administration.

A few years ago,

an employee attempted to
influence a local board

to award a contract
to Synagro

in an effort to increase
his commission,

and they were just
bad businesspeople.

I'm the new CEO.

I'm thrilled to be here
and very excited

about sort of
what we've accomplished

in six or eight months and
what the future holds for us.

Do we have some sauce anywhere
or we're not using sauce?

No, we're just gonna do
tomatoes and basil.

I am fortunate to have
a great family.

I married
my high school sweetheart.

We've been married
for 29 going on 30 years.

I have two great kids.

You gonna throw
some garlic on there?

Yeah, and some
olive oil too.

When you're at a party
and people want to know

what kind of business
Bill is in,

it's really tough
cocktail conversation.

A toast.

People turn away and not
want to be friends with you.

[Laughs]

Synagro had been
a fast-growing company,

but the last five or six years,
things have stagnated

because of prior management.

Don't get dirty.

We've made a lot
of progress,

but just as you can't turn
a submarine around instantly,

you can't turn a company
around instantly.

So I want to see what's
working, what's not working,

how our employees
are handling the change,

and how I can make
a difference.

While undercover, I'll be
posing as Paul Stonebridge,

a former supervisor
in a chemical plant.

My coworkers will be told
that this is a reality show

which takes people that have
damaged the environment

and trains them

to work in environmentally
friendly companies.

Today is the day that
I get to do my first job.

I have never
blown dry my hair.

As a new CEO, I've had
very limited opportunity

to get out into the field, so
this is a tremendous opportunity

for me to get some
firsthand experience.

I think I'm prepared for today
but we'll find out.

Perfect.

[Upbeat music]

Today I'm at
the wastewater treatment plant

in Knoxville, Tennessee.

I'll be working undercover with
one of our centrifuge operators.

[Knocks]

- Hello?
- Hi, I'm looking for Cindy.

- I'm Cindy.
- Hi, Cindy, I'm Paul.

Hello, Paul.
It's nice to meet you.

- Very nice to meet you.
- So you're the polluter.

- Formerly. A recovering one.
- Okay.

First, the hard hat.
Okay.

Cindy operates
this entire plant by herself.

This is a large,
complicated plant.

There are
many operations here.

I want to understand what really
goes on behind these walls

to help
make our company better.

This is my first time
at this facility.

I'm sure I have
a lot to learn.

You have no idea what
we're doing here, do you?

- I have no idea.
- You have none.

Everything you flush down
the toilet in Knox County

comes into this plant.

The whole idea is to separate
the solids from the liquid.

We take it to the farms
and use it as fertilizer,

and one of the things
we do is we pull samples

because it has to be
a certain quality

before it can go
to the field.

I see. Where's all the people
that help you do all this stuff?

- I'm it.
- You're--what? Okay.

We're late on the samples,
so I hope you're in good shape.

- Pretty good shape, yeah.
- 'Cause we're gonna run.

- Okay, great.
- Let's go.

Let's do it.

You gotta keep up.

Oh, yeah.

This is called
a sample bag, and...

- All right.
- Well, you are, anyway.

[Both laugh]

You're gonna scoop it up.
Okay.

From between the augers.

Do not put your hand
below the level of the auger.

That's good advice.

It's really clumpy.
[Laughs]

Are you messing with me?

Handling sludge is icky.

Never in my life did I think
I would be grabbing sludge

with my bare hands.

In fact, it made me
pretty damn uncomfortable.

I thought I'd be doing
fun stuff today.

Don't you love the smell?

- A little more or is that good?
- No, that'll be good.

This way. Come on.

I really am running behind.

This is that big holding tank
that we showed on the computer.

Now this here,
pretty disgusting.

Yeah.

- You're looking at hair.
- Hair. All right.

- And we take this.
- Mm-hmm.

And you're gonna drop it
down in that tank.

It's not technical,
but it's very efficient.

- Exactly. Keep it simple.
- Yeah.

Pull it out,
and you hold this.

Fill it up.
All the way.

And it's gonna get
on your hand,

and it's gonna go
down the bottle.

I felt kind of bad
'cause we went upstairs later

and he's like,
"oh, you have gloves."

And it's like, "yeah."

All right.

Who is this
handsome guy over here?

Oh, that's Glen. Yeah.

I think he was three sheets
to the wind, but--

- [laughs]
Is he a friend of yours?

Uh, yeah.
We're kind of engaged.

- Okay.
- All right.

Let's go bring the truck in.
All right.

[Rock music]

♪ ♪

Okay.
It seems like a good name.

Really?
Yep.

This is where I open the chutes.
Yep.

After this material is
dewatered by the centrifuge,

we need to collect it
and then ultimately

load it into the trucks.

Then the material
is taken and spread

by our workers
out in the field.

How many loads you gotta get?

- Six.
- Six!

- Do you ever sit?
Or is that--?

Occasionally.

When I got here,
I was very concerned

about how one person could
handle this entire plant.

We have not
cleaned that off.

Cindy certainly seemed to have
a very good handle on that,

but I think
she is a unique person,

and I'm not sure
anyone could do that.

- That's good.
- I certainly couldn't do it.

This way.
I'm gonna load another truck.

Come on. I need to step it up.
Don't let me slow you down.

I'm used to being
by myself all day.

All right. Well,
I'll go as fast as you do.

So we gotta suck it up.

I'll let you turn this off
and then turn the other ones on.

It's pretty darn simple.

- How much?
- Seven.

- Seven?
- His name is Naylon.

- Naylon? Oh, okay.
- Okay, stop three and four.

Stop.

And then you move it
to one and two.

- So does the seven-year-old
grandson live with y'all?

His mom, Glen's daughter,
lives with us,

and he lives with us.
Okay.

I'm gonna
go move the truck.

I hate sweating
under that hard hat.

I'm not supposed to wear it
when I'm driving,

but I hate to take it off
because of the way I feel I look

when I take it--

It's okay. It's fine.

- Let's go get you a drink.
- Thank you.

I was just interested
about, uh, how you got here.

- Well, first I was a mother.
- A mother.

- I was a stay-home mother.
- A little while, yeah.

And then, uh, well,
my daughter,

my youngest daughter
became very ill.

Hmm.

What was going on,
if you don't mind me asking?

- A brain tumor.
- Oh. Hmm.

And, uh,
we went to St. Jude's.

Right.

As a parent,
I can't imagine

what Cindy
must have been feeling

when she found out
her daughter was sick.

St. Jude's is
a wonderful place, huh?

- Yeah.
- They do miracles there.

They really do.

That--that was tough.

But anyway, I said
I wanted to go to St. Jude's,

and so I called
and they said yes.

And left at, like,
5:00 in the evening

and drove 7 1/2 hours to be
at St. Jude's the next day.

Right.

So, uh, she went through
radiation treatment.

We were there
about six months.

We lived for free.

One of the checkups,
when we went back,

and it was clear,
it was like all of a sudden

it hits you,
you can think about tomorrow.

- Yeah, huh?
- You know?

Then, all of a sudden,
I'm walking around the place,

just crying.

- Sure. Tears of joy. Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.

They never bill you.
They billed my insurance.

But they never sent me a bill.
Is that right?

I don't know what
we would have done without 'em.

- Yeah, that's amazing.
- Uh...

And she's doing great now?

- She's a trouper.
- Yeah.

Where does she get that from?
[Laughs] I don't know.

My mother.
Your mother. Okay.

- You ready to run?
- Okay.

- Don't forget your glasses.
- Back to work?

Somebody's smoking
a cigarette. I smell it.

- Hmm.
- Actually, that's Ray and Mark.

I can't believe that
you're smoking cigarettes.

- I know, it's just--
- What are you doing?

I know.
I'm trying to quit.

Given how much
physical activity she has

and her grandson and how much
she has to live for,

I was very surprised
that she smokes.

- Yeah, that's good.
- Have you tried to quit?

- I've cut way back.
- Yeah?

Glen gets on me
really bad about smoking.

- Does he smoke?
- Never.

- Uh-huh. See?

When I first arrived,
I thought

all I was gonna learn about

was how the centrifuge worked
and the process.

I learned so much more.

This is a tough job.

You need to have
a lot of different skills.

You have to have
your wits about you.

And I really hope
we have a lot more people

like Cindy
out in the field.

Whoo!
I kind of like this.

Yeah, lookit,
you finally get a break, huh?

What you doing Monday?

[Both laugh]

Announcer: Coming up...

Be careful.

Announcer: The boss
enters dangerous waters.

- Oh.
- [Laughs]

Announcer: And later, Bill
encounters his biggest job yet.

This is when
the fun begins, buddy.

Whoa!

I had no idea
what I was in store for.

Announcer: Bill Massa,
the President and CEO of Synagro

is a boss undercover
in his own company.

His employees think he's
a former chemical plant worker

trying to go green.

- So you're the polluter.
- Formerly. A recovering one.

Announcer: His journey
continues in Shawnee, Kansas.

I'm at the Mill Creek
water treatment plant.

Today we are here
to clean out the lagoon.

Some municipalities
use lagoons

because, frankly, they have
the storage space available.

Over a period of years,
it gets filled up

with treated biosolids.

We'll be pumping it down
and then removing the solids

that have collected
at the bottom.

Hi, I'm looking for Melvin.

Hi, how are you doing?
I'm Melvin.

I've been waiting on you
to get here.

All right. Sorry.

You're the new guy supposed
to be trained for Synagro?

I am.

We'll walk over here
into the dressing room.

Okay.

I've never been to
an operation like this.

By going undercover, I can
understand much more clearly

how it works,
how we can do better,

what's working,
what's not working.

All right.
All right. Y'all ready to go?

- Yes, sir. Thank you.
- All right.

Oh, what is all this? Wow.

Yeah, that's, um, sludge.

Sludge, okay.

- All right.
- And...

I see. Okay.

Okay.

Hula pump. All right.

That's what's taking
just the sludge out?

And then what happens when
they take the sludge out?

Fertilizer. And the farmers
are okay with that?

Real good.

Okay.

All right.

Yep.

Right.

Oh, there we go.

Wow, that's quick.

Okay, okay.
That went too far.

- Oh, too far? Okay.
- That's what it did.

I didn't break it,
did I?

He pulled the lever down.

Don't pull it down,
all the way down.

That--that kills the motor.

[Engine starts]

All right, thank you.
I was worried.

[Laughs]
I thought I broke it.

Okay.

Are we gonna get to do
some of that too?

Yeah, we gonna.

All right.

Be careful. It can be kind
of rough walking down there.

All right.

[Ominous music]

♪ ♪

You gotta be careful
when you, uh--

as a matter of fact, I'd like to
show you something right here.

Okay.

- Oh!
- Out of one of the--

be careful.

[Both laugh]

Okay, watch your step.
All right.

I don't want to be
slipping down here.

Gotcha. All right.

- Okay, we gonna--
- show me how it's done.

Yeah, yeah.
Nobody took a break yet.

Now do they--now do they
make you move so fast

that you don't do it
safely or--?

Yeah.

All right.

- [Laughs]
- All right.

When I woke up this morning,

I didn't know what
I was gonna be doing.

This was not
one of those things.

That's
not one of those things.

Nope, but a man's gotta do
what a man's gotta do.

A man's gotta do
what he's gotta do.

Yeah.

Okay, then.

That's reverse.

- You just keep working it.
- Keep working it.

Is that okay?

It's like black gold
out here.

- Yeah.
- Well, that's money, right?

- That's money.
- How am I doing so far?

Not--not as good as Melvin,
but, uh...

Oh, you--you--
you gettin' good as me.

I'm not--I'm not that good.

I got a good teacher.
That's all.

[Laughs]

What's it like working out
here for a few hours at a time

with no breaks?

That must get--get--

[both laugh]

Is there any water
around this place?

Oh, man,
yeah, we get you a--

get a bottle of water.
- All right.

It'll be all right.

I mean, there's plenty
of water down here, but--

- No, this--this water, no.
- Not drinking water.

- Here we go.
- Thank you.

- It ain't real--real cold.
- Oh, that's all right.

Is it wet? Is it wet?
Yeah, it's wet.

- It's wet? All right.
- It'll wet your throat.

- All right, I need it.
- Yeah.

- Mmm.
- Me too.

You know, sometime
we go on different jobs

and what you need
might not be there.

I keep my cool and I
buy my water for myself,

'cause I know I might
go on a job

and I might not have
no water.

- That sounds like a good idea.
- Yeah.

Huh.

And we had to go a coup--

about a mile up the road.

Huh.

When Melvin told me
at some of the job sites,

there aren't even
port-a-potties,

I find that to be
unacceptable.

These are difficult jobs
out in the hot sun.

I want to be sure that when our
employees are out in the field,

they have what they need,
and we need to fix that.

What you think about it
so far?

I like it, I like it.

Yeah.

[Laughs]

You ain't smellin'
nothin' but money.

You said you're
from Georgia, but you're--

- I'm from Mississippi.
- Mississippi, okay.

But I workin'--
I workin' in Georgia.

- You work in Georgia, okay.
- Yeah.

So you're up,
away from your family.

And you, uh,
that must be hard.

Is it, like, half the time
you're gone from home?

90%.

Wow.

How does the family
feel about you--?

It's good for us
and it's bad for us.

- Bad for us, right, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.

What kind of benefits
do they got?

Vision?

But, you know,
they need vision.

Yeah.

Especially when I gotta
travel, reading that mail.

- Oh, yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Hmm.

Melvin had
a great attitude

about some of these challenges
that he faces,

but he needs
to be able to focus

on the job at hand.

Not only is it important
for our employees

to have good vision
from a personal perspective,

but also for job safety.

As the new CEO, clearly
some issues still remain.

So when I get back, I'm gonna
take a good, hard look

at some of these issues
to help make Melvin's job

just a little bit easier.

So what do you do for fun when
you get to be home a little bit?

Me and my wife,
we go out to eat dinner.

We go out, uh, shopping.
You do some shopping too?

Or she does all the shopping?
She do all the shopping.

I was gonna say, I--
[Laughs]

- I just be going--
- You goin' to supervise.

Yeah. I'm going to supervise.

Exactly.

[Both laugh]

Announcer: Coming up,
the boss finds a new pet.

And later, Bill finally
gets his feet wet.

How low do you
have to get this down to?

- Spotless.
- Spotless? Oh, jeez.

Announcer: Bill Massa, the
President and CEO of Synagro

is a boss undercover
in his own company.

Oh, what is all this?

That's, uh, sludge.

Announcer:
His employees think

he's a former
chemical plant worker

trying to go green.

This is like
black gold out here.

Well, that's money, right?

His journey continues
in Baltimore, Maryland.

Today I'm at the Back River
wastewater treatment plant.

Here, we produce pellets.

Pellets are more versatile
than cake and liquid.

They travel easier.

They can be stored
for a period of time.

But that equipment

needs to run 24 hours a day,
seven days a week,

and yet we still have to
clean and maintain it.

I need to understand
how we're able to do that

and yet continue
to expand our operation.

Hello?
Hello.

Hi, I'm looking
for Krista.

Krista's right down at the end
of the hall on the right.

On the end of the hall
on the right. Thank you.

Okay. Hi,
I'm looking for Krista.

- Hi.
- Krista, hi.

I'm Paul Stonebridge.
Nice to meet you.

You too.

- I'm here to learn.
- Okay.

Today I'm going undercover
with a pelletizer operator.

I am curious and excited
to find out

what goes on
beyond those walls.

Um, just to give you an idea
of what we do around here...

Please, yeah.

We p.m. this equipment, which
is preventative maintenance.

Okay.

These are
our centrifuge feed pumps.

The better we take care of it,
the better it runs.

What the centrifuge does is,

it mixes the sludge
with polymer

and it makes it
into a cake.

And then from there,
go through the dryer,

which dries it
and makes it a pellet

to give you
your final product.

We're gonna use these today.

Huh? We're gonna do
some spackling or--?

Well, you'll see what
you're gonna be scraping at.

[Laughs]
Okay.

This is a big plant in here.
Yeah.

It's cool.

We gotta clean all this up.

- What is this?
- It's just buildup.

You know, just from
the machine running.

- Oh, really?
- Yeah.

Yeah.
Yes.

It's always interesting,
watching the new guy.

Yep.

She kept saying, "we just
gotta get this cleaned out,

"because that's
the way the equipment

runs the most efficient."

So that means you gotta go
into the nooks and crannies

and pull out big,
gigantic hairballs

that were like
the size of softballs.

What do I do with this?

A big, sticky, slimy mess.

It was--
it was pretty gross.

What do we do now, boss?

We're gonna clean this
out of the way.

We want these open,
out of our way.

So this one was making
very bad cake.

Yeah?

Because of what was
laying on top of it.

I like dirty work.

Once you know
what you're working with...

- Right.
- It's not really that horrible.

And it's got a good purpose.
I use it.

How do you use it?

I use it in my gardens

and I use it
when I plant trees.

The stuff works great.

I think
that's pretty clean.

That looks wonderful.

We're gonna move on
to screen cleaning.

The wet cake
goes through the dryer

and a screener separates it
into what is product

and what goes back into
what we call the recycle bin.

I see.

- So it's very dusty.
- Okay.

Lots and lots of buildup.

We just
pull these doors down.

Okay.
Okay.

Have at it.

Now, you're gonna
want to catch them.

In here, you might find
a lot of hair.

Oh, yeah, great.

It's important that we
keep the screeners clean

because if not,
we're gonna make bad product.

Right. Gotcha.

I should have gotten me
one of them long-sleeved shirts.

Yeah.

The equipment
in this plant

is worth tens of
millions of dollars.

Krista clearly understands

the concept of
preventative maintenance,

taking care of things
as you go

as opposed to spending
millions of dollars

to replace it later on.

[Laughs]

That's bigger than
the dog I'm getting.

Yeah, my boys
are getting bigger.

I kind of need something
to cuddle with on the couch.

[Laughs]

How big are your boys?
12 and 13.

They're good boys.
They're a lot of fun.

Into their sports.
Those are great ages.

All right, we're making
progress here, boss.

There you go.

We're gonna go ahead
and take a break.

Oh, good. Thank you.

There'll be another--
another shift coming in.

That's looking pretty good.

Are there other women
that work here

or are you the only one?

No. I'm it.

Nothing in this plant
intimidates me or--or--

- Clearly, yeah.
- It's not too bad, all in all.

So do you have any questions?
Oh, do I have questions.

- [Laughs]
- Ah.

Do you, um, do you have,
like, recycling and--?

- No.
- Oh, wow.

A fundamental attribute
of Synagro is recycling.

We're all about recycling.

We take in material
and recycle it.

However,
as I've gone around

to a number of facilities
in Synagro, I've noticed

that we do not have recycling
programs at many of them.

It's a matter of it being,
I guess, part of the budget.

Very interesting.

That's something
that we need to change.

Okay.

So, what's the, uh,
what are the shifts like?

We work 6:00 to 6:00
and 6:00 to 6:00.

- Hmm.
- So we work 24/7.

All holidays.
Huh.

- We never shut down.
- Okay.

Wow.

How does your family feel about
you working here and, uh...

- They're very helpful.
- Oh.

So is your husband--?

- We're separated.
- You're separated. I see.

That must be really tough
with--just by yourself and--

It's tough.

T-bird,
he stays with his dad.

Okay. So the kids come home
after school or, uh--?

Yeah, yeah.

Do they have any,
uh, thing they want to--

know what they want to do
or they, uh--?

Um, they want to be
professional football players.

Oh, do they?
Are they, like--?

- My sons.
- Ah, okay.

What positions
do they play?

- Zack plays defense.
T-bird's tiny.

He's more, uh--
T-bird is the--

- The smaller one.
- The smaller one, oh.

He likes offense.

They've been having him
in defense.

They're fun to watch.

I'm a very big Ravens fan.

- Are you?
- Yeah.

Well, I mean,
they could be the, you know,

front line of the Ravens.

Krista has two boys.
She clearly loves them a lot.

I just got a tattoo
on my lower back

with their names on them.

- You did?
- Uh-huh.

They love it.
Do they?

That's cool, that's cool.
They love it.

It's probably
a little dusty right now.

Yeah, a little dusty.
That's cool.

She works very hard.

She brings a lot of passion
to the job.

So for Krista,
in this place at this time,

it seems to be right.

My boys think it's funny.

Mommy works at
the poopy palace.

Okay, nice.

But clearly, we need to
look at our facilities

and institute
recycling programs.

We still have
a lot of work to do,

and that's certainly
gonna be one of our focuses.

- It's bad.
- Oh, good.

Whoo!

[Upbeat music]

♪ ♪

Today I'm here in beautiful,
chilly Sparta, Wisconsin.

There are different means
for storing treated biosolids.

In this facility, they store
their material in a tank.

Others store it
in the lagoon.

Today we'll be entering a 2.2
million gallon tank to clean it,

so I hope I'm ready for this.

Hi, I'm Paul.
I'm looking for Rich.

- Rich.
- Rich. How you doing?

- How you doing?
- Good to meet you.

- We'll get you some clothes.
- All right.

Uh-oh, it looks like
we're gonna be doing

some serious work today.

Some dirty stuff.

This you can have for later.

What have you
got planned for me

that I'm gonna need that for?

We're gonna do some fishing.

[Laughs]
All right, excellent.

We're at
a wastewater treatment plant.

We're cleaning
a holding tank, it's called.

That big tank there.

So what are we gonna be
doing when we're down there?

Are we gonna be--?

We just start breaking up
the solids and sludge.

- Around there.
- And, uh--

And that's slowing up
the pumping?

Yep.

There's too much solids
collecting down there?

- Yeah. Let's do her.
- Let's do it.

Let's rock.

Watch the stairs.
We've got hoses on the stairs.

- Yep.
- So watch your step.

This is when
the fun begins, buddy.

Never before have I gone
into a biosolid storage tank,

so it certainly
makes me nervous.

I had no idea
what I was in store for.

This is our final step
before we enter the tank.

Yeah, I definitely
want to see this.

We're going down
into this thing?

- We are gonna go down into it.
- Oh, my God.

[Clears throat]

So who wants to be first?
Want me to go down there?

Yeah, show me how to do it.
All right, just going fishing.

That's all
I gotta think about.

Not that I'm going in a
two-million-gallon sludge tank.

- That's right.
- Okay.

Paul's connected.

The first step's a doozy.

There will be
a strong ammonia smell.

If at any time
you feel overwhelmed

or anything like that,
just let us know

and we'll get you
out of there.

- [Laughs]
- This place is big.

All right, I'm in it.
Nice!

It's really thick out there.
Jeez!

Yeah. Like a swamp
and a pond maybe?

- Oh, it's more than a--yeah.
- Like quicksand.

Really,
really thick quicksand.

Yeah, it's really heavy.

The first foot or so
was water,

but then, pretty quickly,
it was--it was thick,

sticky oatmeal.

Uhh!

- This is our big hose.
- Okay.

I like to call that
Big Bertha.

Big Bertha, all right.

- So it's a 2 1/2 inch hose.
- Yep.

So she got
a little pressure.

I'll just show you the...

How you work it is, you try to
get it over your shoulder,

and you want to shoot
by your feet.

- Really? Okay.
- To help break it up.

- Okay.
- I'll shoot around.

You'll feel it breaking up.

It'll help loosen
everything up.

And you walk around the tank
like that

and you do just sort of,
figure eights, you know.

- Okay.
- Back and forth.

It's a big boy hose.

The water was probably
about three feet deep

when we got in there,
but the sludge

was a good foot and a half,
two feet underneath it.

Turn it on nice and slow.

You'll feel her
start kicking.

And once you get it
by your feet,

then you can walk around.

- Whoa!
- Don't tip over.

You don't want to
tip over here.

I was worried
about losing my balance.

And falling into that
would not have been pretty.

You know, stick it in there,
break up all the solids,

and the pump will,
you know, pump it out.

It's--
it's solid down there.

It--it definitely is.

It's really tough
to walk in.

There ain't no running
in here, either.

No. No splashing, too,
I heard.

No, no. No splashing
in the pool.

The smell is not--
not good. Uhh!

How does that feel
on your shoulder?

Ah, it gets to you after a
while, you know what I'm sayin'?

[Laughs]

Now, what do you think
of holding that

for about six hours,
eight hours a day?

- Man!
- [Laughs]

I'm naturally
gonna laugh at him

because I've ran that hose.

I'm a big guy, so, you know,
it don't kick me around as much.

And the worst part about it
when you're starting to sweat,

you can't wipe your face.

Yeah, I was thinking
about that.

[Both laugh]

Being a, uh, you know,
a new guy,

it's sort of fun to watch.

How long does a guy
stay down in here doing this?

[Laughs]

When I get out of the tank,
I'll give you a hug,

and then we'll be done.

[Both laugh]

How low do you
have to get this down to?

- Spotless.
- Spotless? Oh, jeez.

You're gonna--
you're gonna see cement.

How long do you think
that's gonna take?

Well, you know,
hopefully a couple weeks.

A couple weeks?

I think I need a raise.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

How is the, uh,
how is the pay?

- The pay ain't bad.
- Yeah?

You know, we work
a lot of hours, though.

Uh-huh.

And, uh, you know,
some guys are at a set location.

Uh-huh.

For me to work,
I gotta travel.

Uh-huh.

Last winter,
I worked down in Atlanta.

Uh, I was on 12 different jobs
this summer.

Mm-hmm.

Like, this job is four hours
away from my home.

And it's tough.
I mean, it gets tough.

Just like every other job.

This looks pretty good.

It's at waist-level, though.
Yeah.

We can call it a day
down here.

You want to try and pull
that fire hose up?

You have family
back home or--?

- Yep. A close-knit family.
- Do you?

- No kids yet.
- No kids?

I'm getting old, though.
Getting old.

Are you?
Hold old are you now?

- Well, 27.
- 27!

Well, and I got
six more days until my birthday.

- All right.
- Yeah.

Are you doing anything
special for your birthday?

I don't have
nothing planned,

'cause I didn't know
if I'd be out here or where.

Well, you got another job
lined up after this one or--?

Where do I go next?
Hopefully a job back home.

- Back home? Yeah.
- A guy can pray, right?

Yeah. Does Synagro
have a job back home?

Or they have any operations
around there?

- No Synagro jobs are back home.
- Yeah.

You know, the main thing
is the travel.

And I average probably
200 days in a hotel a year.

200?

You know, this traveling
gets old, and, uh...

Right, so you're
gonna give up this

for, uh, for something
close to home, huh?

Yeah, I think so.

Hopefully
there'll be some way

that we can keep Rich
as a Synagro employee.

He's a good guy.
He's a hard worker.

I know what Rich
is going through.

I have had to relocate
for jobs several times

over my career.

[Groans]

When I was in the Navy,

I happened to have missed
my younger son's birth,

and it was really
one of the things

that helped me to
make the decision

to leave the Navy.

Life is about choices,
and it sounds like Rich

is about to make
a very tough one.

Whoo! Fresh air.

I learned a bunch
of things today.

This is a tough, dirty,
physical job.

I'll try to clean you up
a little bit.

I got a chance to get
firsthand experience

in tank cleaning.

It's something
we do a lot of,

and now I have
a much better appreciation

for the challenges.

Are you gonna drink
some beers after this

or what's, uh--?

I don't know.

There might be
a 12-pack drained

after working
with that hose.

Man.

Announcer: Coming up,
Bill's employees

think they're coming
to company headquarters

to evaluate his performance.

He was pretty good
for a trainee.

I really don't see why
he wouldn't be a good fit.

Announcer: But how will they
react when he reveals the truth?

I'm not really Paul.

All of the employees that
I've worked with this past week

have been called to headquarters
to review my performance.

Would you like to have
a seat, please?

Thank you.

They have no idea
why they're really here.

He was pretty good
for a trainee.

I really don't see why
he wouldn't be a good fit.

- How are you doing today?
- I'm fine, thank you.

- They're ready for you now.
- Okay. Thank you.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- How are you doing?
- Good, how are you?

- Do you remember me?
- Paul!

- Paul, that's right.
- Paul, yeah, Paul.

I am not really Paul.

I am Bill Massa,
the CEO of Synagro.

Oh, man.

- Oh, my gosh.
- You're the ce--CEO?

I'm the CEO.
Chief Executive Officer, yeah.

Pretty cool.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

Krista, as I got to know you
over the course of the day,

it was clear to me that
you were really focused

on keeping things
well-maintained

to make a good product
for our customers.

That was really neat.

Is that the way you think
about it every day or--?

Yes, yes, it actually is.

And that's definitely
my home away from home so...

And I appreciate that.

Uh, I listened to you
talk about your two sons.

That was--that was--
that was neat.

That was really touching.

My boys are my everything,
so...

I got the sense that
you're a pretty good Ravens fan.

Oh, yeah.

What I'm going to do
for you and your sons

is get you three tickets

to all of the Ravens'
home games next season.

- Oh, wow.
- Okay?

I hope they get
to the Super Bowl,

because if they get to the
Super Bowl, we're gonna pay

for a trip for you and
your two sons to see them.

Wow.

We'll get you tickets
for that.

That is so incredible.

I can't wait
to tell my boys.

I definitely think
it's gonna blow their minds.

I think they are just
gonna be beside themselves.

Melvin, you took real good
care of me when I was out there.

You taught me a lot.
I'm glad I did.

Yeah, you did.

In fact, one of the things
that you mentioned,

sometimes on some of the jobs,
the bathroom and the water

is not always available.

So I've already talked
to the leadership team,

and we're going to make sure
that it is available

at all of our job sites.

Okay. Appreciate it.
Yeah.

You also mentioned
it would be nice

if we had a vision plan
as part of our health care.

And in fact, because
of our conversation,

we are going to add
a vision plan

for the medical benefits
next year.

Oh, man, that--ah, this is
all coming together now.

It's all coming together.

- Would that help?
- It'll help a lot.

Finally, you spend a lot
of time away from your wife,

and I appreciate
the sacrifices.

So the company is going to pay
for a vacation--

hotel, airfare, food,
everything else--

for you and your wife.

The only condition is
that it has to be a place

your wife wants to go to.

Uh...
[Laughs]

Man, I tell you...

I think that's better
for you and me.

Yeah, better for her--
me and her.

Man, that was--
that is something else.

My wife, she might break into
tears when I tell her this.

I'm just blown away.

I can't hardly get
my words right.

Rich, I was disappointed
to hear you talk about

thinking of leaving
the company.

You know, a guy gets home
on the weekend.

You're home for two days,
and Sunday afternoon,

after the first
football game,

you're already
counting down the hours

when you gotta leave
on the road again.

I respect that a lot,

because I was in the Navy
for seven years.

I had a really good career
going on,

and I had the same thing
for you--a fork in the road.

And it was,
I'm either gonna go left

and stay in the Navy
for 20 years

and not see my family,

or I was gonna go right
and start all over again,

and that's why
I'm particularly sensitive

about this issue.

Right.

However,
the job is the job,

and I would love
if all of our customers

were located right next to
all of our employees.

But we know
that ain't possible.

That isn't possible.
It isn't the way it works.

I know it's not much,
but to help ease the pain

of being away from
your family so much,

I'm going to have
our I.T. Department

work with you
and your family

to make sure that
you have the computers

and the software
that you need

to stay in touch better.

That would be good.
That would be good.

I don't want to lose a good,
solid employee like you.

So please, please, give it
some--some serious thought.

Oh, I definitely will

we work really hard
to find people like you.

It's all--
it's all coming in.

You know, just soaking it in
a little bit.

It's a lot. Yeah, yeah.

One of the things
that we talked about

was your birthday party.

I want to make this a
spectacular birthday for you,

so the company is going to
pay for a nice, big party

for you and your friends
and your family to get together.

We'll pay for the food
and the band or the DJ

or whatever you need.

This'll be
a special 28th birthday.

Yeah, there you go.

I hope you guys, uh,
like to drink beer.

Yeah, there you go.
Absolutely.

Well, it's awesome
to have a party.

Who doesn't want to have a party
with their friends and family?

You're crazy if you don't.

Cindy, I was so impressed
with your energy level,

you passion and enthusiasm
and positive attitude.

Thank you.

There are a couple things that
I want to talk to you about.

This is a very physical job.

You know, up and down
a thousand steps a day

and moving around.

So one of the things
I'm concerned about

is your smoking, okay?

Yes.

My mother
was a long-term smoker

and she quit
a bunch of years ago.

And the experience that
I went through with her--

- I've been trying.
- I know.

Well, I'm gonna
help you to try.

- You're gonna help me?
- Okay?

As of 2011,
Synagro's medical plan

will pay for 100% of
the products and services

to help our employees
stop smoking, okay?

- Oh.
- So it's very important to me,

you are, and I really hope
you take advantage of it.

- I promise you, I'll do it.
- Okay.

You mentioned something
about a grandson?

- Naylon, yes.
- Exactly.

So you talked about how
important family is to you.

It is.

So in order to insure

your grandson gets off
to a strong start,

we are going to set up
a $5,000 education fund for him.

- For Naylon?
- We are.

So it's a very small token
of my appreciation

for how hard you work.

Oh, that's just--
oh, my God.

I am just breathless.

I was really moved

by the story you told me
about your daughter.

And, uh, you talked
about St. Jude's

and how much they helped.

To help show St. Jude's
how much you appreciate them,

the company is going to make a
$10,000 donation in your name

to St. Jude's.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

My pleasure.

Thank you.

Things like this
don't happen to me.

They've never happened
to me before.

Wow.

[Exhales]
This is great.

This is so great.

It's been
an awesome adventure.

We have a lot to do, and I am
really looking forward to it.

I'd like to introduce to you
Mr. Bill Massa.

[Cheers and applause]

Thank you.

[Cheers and applause]

Hi, I'm Bill Massa.

For the last week, I've been
undercover in our company.

Surprise!
[Laughter]

During the last week, I have
done some incredible jobs.

I'd like to share with you
some of the highlights

of that experience.

Yeah, I definitely
want to see this.

We're going down
into this thing?

Oh, my God.

[Laughter]

[Laughter]

And it's gonna
get on your hand.

Handling sludge is icky.

In fact, it made me
pretty damn uncomfortable.

[Laughter]

[Cheers and applause]

It has been
an amazing experience.

I have learned so much.

I feel much closer
to our employees.

Thank you all very much for
the enormous progress we've made

in the last year.

I feel very good about
the path that we're on,

and I am so proud to be able
to call myself CEO of Synagro.

[Applause]

I left a good job
to come to a company

that handles sludge.

Many people thought
I was crazy.

I believed in this company
a year ago,

and I have
an even greater appreciation

for the opportunities
that we have.

I learned as much
in the last week

as I have in the last year.

I'm very excited
about moving forward.

-- sync, corrected by elderman --

announcer: Stay tuned for scenes
from our next episode.