NFCMA employees will undergo drug testing
DUNBAR TWP. – Employees of the North Fayette County Municipal Authority will now undergo drug and alcohol screening in conjunction with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The authority on Tuesday entered into an agreement with Fay-West Drug Screening LLC., (FWDS) of Morrell Avenue, Connellsville, to conduct the screenings under a policy that will be devised by the union and authority officials.
Bob Softcheck, authority manager, said the policy will follow FWDS guidelines.
The agreement affects about 30 employees that will randomly be selected by FWDS for a urine specimen, confirmatory GC/MS testing, a legal chain of custody record and interpretation of test results by a medical review officer.
Softcheck said CDL operators are required by law to have the screening, but he didn’t want to single them out.
According to the contract, Fay-West Drug Screening will perform the services necessary to meet DOT requirements regarding drug testing and enforcement by specific DOT agencies under federal law.
Softcheck said the authority will pay for the tests that cost $75 to comply with DOT requirements and $55 for non-DOT random.
The DOT’s drug-testing regulations were first devised in 1988 and significantly revised in 1992.
Alcohol testing procedures were added in 1994.
The rules were revised again in 2001 to reflect the changes in testing technology, the evolution of the DOT’s testing programs and shifts in the structure of the testing business as employees shed internal programs and sought external service providers.
In other business involving contracts, the authority rejected bids for a water line extension along Laurel Hill Road in Franklin Township after they exceeded the project’s $34,000 estimate.
Prices included $50,917 from Rygiel Excavating of Fayette City as the lowest bidder and Seiler Excavating of Hopwood for $52,285.
A separate bid to purchase a minivan that would be used by Softcheck was approved with Day Fleet Sales offering the lowest price of $16,584 for a 2006 Chevy Uplander.