Plant repairs could cost $15M
Posted By MICHAEL-ALLAN MARION
Posted 2 months ago
The city is hiring a consultant and an engineering firm to determine how the water treatment plant failed temporarily while a contractor was undertaking a $45-million upgrade last summer, how much it will cost for the repairs and who should pay it.
Council recently directed staff behind closed doors to hire consultant Golder and Associates, who will recommend an engineering firm to assist in an investigation.
The probe would focus on what happened to cause a main section of the Holmedale water-treatment plant to sink back in March, causing cracks and other damage, Sandra Lawson, the city's general manager of engineering and operational services, confirmed Monday.
Water safety was not compromised during the incident.
The city is working with a rough estimate of between $6 million and $15 million to repair the damage, Lawson said, but needs much more information.
"It hasn't been determined how or why the building failed, and we need to find out," she said.
At the same time, Bennett Contracting Millgrove Ltd. is conducting its own investigation to determine the cause.
Meanwhile, the city solicitor's office has been directed to prepare for the possibility of a legal case.
The work of the consultants and engineers is being kept under wraps because whatever information they collect could end up in a court battle if the city tries to get the repair cost back from the contractor.
Lawson and top environmental services administrators informed council in a hastily called special meeting last March that the Actiflo pre-treatment building at the plant suddenly began settling.
In the meeting, Terry Spiers, director of environmental services, told council and the public that he could "almost guarantee" that early construction being undertaken by crews for Bennett Contracting "played a role" in the settlement.
The building stopped settling within three days, cracks forced the city to set up temporary portable pre-treatment measures and ensure no more sinking before construction could resume.
