Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Sewer Project in the Works
Mary Alice Kaspar Austin Business Journal Staff
The largest construction project ever undertaken by the City of
Austin will get under way soon — offering perhaps hundreds of opportunities for
contractors and potentially leading to higher bills for water users.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the City of Austin to
eliminate sewer overflows from its wastewater collection system. The overflows
are unplanned discharges of wastewater, usually caused by sewer blockage or high
flows during wet weather.
An estimated $150 million will be spent to comply with the EPA order. The city's
Water and Wastewater Utility plans to sell revenue bonds to finance
construction.
The utility will recommend the Austin City Council approve a 5 percent to 10
percent rate increase to all water and wastewater bills later this month, Cantú
says. The higher fees will help repay bonds and finance other projects, such as
a water treatment plant expansion.
In 2001, the average residential water and wastewater bill was $43 per month and
the average commercial bill was $353, says Reynaldo Cantú, assistant director of
engineering at the Water and Wastewater Utility. A 10 percent rise would mean
the average residential bill would climb to $47 and the average commercial bill
to $388.
"In terms of dollar value and duration, this is the biggest project the city has
ever done to my knowledge," Cantú says.
Leaders of the project, called the Austin Clean Water Program, have tapped 25
engineering firms to design the improvements and hired the Austin office of
environmental engineering firm Earth Tech Inc. as program manager.
Sewer lines must be replaced or fixed in 120 areas around the city, Cantú says.
Each of those 120 spots will spur several construction projects, with dozens of
primary contractors and subcontractors.
"We could have as many as 200 or more construction projects," Cantú says.
Cantú says the Austin Clean Water Program intends to advertise for bids in May
or June and begin construction shortly thereafter. The lowest bids are expected
to win contracts, he says.
Bill Moriarty, a vice president in the Austin office of Earth Tech, is manager
of the program.
Moriarty says the work is being divided into three geographic areas and phases,
named for the three major sewer tunnels that run under the city. The areas,
projected costs and completion dates are:
Cross-town Collection Basin, $50 million, September 2005.
Onion Creek Collection Basin, $25 million, September 2006.
Govalle Collection Basin, $75 million, September 2007.
Moriarty says all the work must be completed by the end of December 2007, or the
City of Austin faces stiff sanctions from the EPA. Penalties of $27,500 per day
will be assessed for each violation, he says.
Cantú says the EPA issued the order because the city has had problems with sewer
spills, with more than 1,000 overflows since 1995. Those overflows can cause
health risks and contaminate the city's drinking water supply, he says.
The majority of the city's 2,200 miles worth of pipelines will be examined. Some
of those lines haven't been modified since they were installed 100 years ago,
Cantú says.
In recent times, the city has focused on meeting demands for new sewer lines,
says Brigid Shea, an environmental consultant for Earth Tech and a former member
of the Austin City Council.
"Because there's been such pressure for new development, they [the city] haven't
had the people power to deal with all of the ongoing system maintenance and
repair," Shea says. "It's a common problem all over the country."
Leaders of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies say the problem is of national significance. The association represents
more than 300 public agencies and organizations.
Alexandra Dunn, general counsel for the association, says cities such as Los
Angeles, Houston, Miami and New Orleans have found themselves in similar
circumstances as Austin.
"The thing they have in common is excessive wet weather," Dunn says.
Email MARY ALICE KASPAR at (makaspar@bizjournals.com).
© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.