Burger King employee pours oil down storm drain

quote:

---

Joseph May, 23, was on his way to pick up food for his family at a Chili’s when he saw the employee pushing a container of oil across the Burger King parking lot at Lantana and Jog roads. In the video, which May posted on social media, May narrates what the employee is doing as he flips the container to dump the oil in the drain. The employee doesn’t appear to defend his actions.

“It was steaming,” May of suburban Lake Worth told The Palm Beach Post. “You could see chunks of fried goods, particles. It was black.”

May went into the Burger King, while still filming, and asked to speak to a manager. Other employees pointed to a woman who refused to respond to May except to tell him to stop filming. Another employee, a younger man, said “sorry” to May.

The location’s owner, Johannah Estep, told The Palm Beach Post that the employee did pour the oil down the storm drain, and the store’s general manager has since been fired for “performance-related issues.”

---

quote:

---

The situation is now mostly an enforcement issue through Palm Beach County, Mahon said, since the county holds the permits.

“So the onus is on them to make sure this is cleaned up,” he said. “They are responsible for enforcing everything involved in the laws here. So if they fail to complete their responsibility, we would step in.”

As far as if the restaurant’s actions were illegal, Mahon said: “It’s safe to say that this is breaking a regulation.”

---