The city of Shreveport entered into a consent decree for correction of sanitary sewer overflows (SSO) in 2014.
The mandate to eliminate SSOs included the following requirements:
a. Analysis of the entire collection system and repair ALL defects in 5 phases of work in the first 9 years;
b. Reassess phases 1, 2 and 3 in years 8-12 and address any new defects;
c. Analyze the collection system and construct additional capacity improvements where necessary to eliminate SSOs and treatment plant overloading by year 12;
d. Implement a Capacity Management operations and maintenance Program within Year 1.
Failure to meet construction deadlines can result in the following penalties:
1 to 30 days late: $750 per day
31 to 60 days late: $1500 per day
61 to 180 days late: $2500 per day
More than 10 days late: $4000 per day.
Status of Phase 1:
30 projects
All 30 are functionally complete, 28 have reached final completion
Deadline for completion Nov.12, 2017
Projects were 12 months late exposing the city to potential damages
A request for a time extension to EPA is in progress
Construction cost forecast $185 million.
Status of Phase 2:
17 projects
12 are functionally complete,
4 have reached final completion
Deadline for completion May 12, 2019
Projects should be completed 9 months late exposing the city to potential damages
A request for a time extension to EPA is in progress Construction cost forecast $114 million.
Status of Phase 3:
14 projects
1 project has reached final design and 1 project is under construction
Consent decree deadline is Nov. 3, 2020
Construction cost forecast;$140 million.
The hydraulic model results for Phase 1 are very poor.
Post completion monitoring of 11 areas revealed:
SSOs deceased in 6 areas in ranges from 27% to 51%.
SSOs increased in 5 areas from 24% to 157%.
The model was developed by the prior consent decree manager.
It is apparent that the hydraulic model needs substantial modification to achieve the mandate of zero SSOs. And this has become the primary goal for the consent manager firm Burns & McDonnell. The SSO data is to be incorporated into the model and it is to be recalibrated to make if more accurate.
The consent manager has decided to stop all future work until this task is completed to ensure that better results for future work. This effort will further delay unfinished work in Phase 1 and Phase 2. It will also meant that Phase 3 can not be completed by the consent decree deadline. This necessary delay will subject the city to additional financial penalties if an extension for completion is not obtained from the EPA.
The consent decree manager advised the Shreveport city council on Dec. 19 that the staggered rate increases for water and sewer will not pay for all the mandated work. The council was also advised that the projected rate increases will be 7% tp 8% per year combined for water and sewer. The national average is in the 5% -6% range.
Two strategies were identified for going forward with the mandated work.
The first was to raise rates immediately to fund Consent Decree projects while developing a regulatory strategy to renegotiate the Consent Decree. This option was not recommended due to the very negative impact of additional increases on the city population.
The second option was to continue with the approved rate increases and complete priority projects for 2020 and 2021 utilizing available funding. This approach will mean the Consent Decree scheduled deadlines will not be met and thus the city will be exposed to potential stipulated penalties.. However this will allow the city to address the most needed infrastructure repairs while negotiating with the EPA for time extensions.
Simply put, the city is between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Completion deadlines have been missed and will continue to be missed for future phases.
The rate increases in place will not fund all the work required. The burden of rate increases on a large majority of the city’s residents will not allow for future increases.
The city is accruing potential penalties for the work currently underway and will have exposure to more in the future. The city does not have the financial resources to pay for the needed work, much less the penalties.
This Article was published in the December 27th issue of The Inquisitor.