REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Receive a Report of an Emergency Procurement to Provide a Bulk Chemical, a Mineral Oxidant, to Meet Compliance Requirements at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) and Find that the Project is of Urgent Necessity for the Preservation of Life, Health, or Property (F24-026), and Find that the Action is Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Sections 15301 and 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Staff is presenting this report to Council to provide information on the completed emergency procurement resulting in a change order to add $600,000 to a current purchase agreement with Jenfitch Inc., to procure additional mineral oxidant needed to meet compliance requirements at the Water Pollution Control Plant (“WPCP” or “the Plant”). A significant change in effluent conditions in the Plant’s secondary treatment process, impacted the Plant’s ability to meet Turbidity (NTU) requirements. If discharged, this potentially subjects the City to penalties, administrative orders, third-party litigation, cease and desist orders, and other consequences.
EXISTING POLICY
Pursuant to Chapter 2.08 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, the City Manager, the Purchasing Officer, or a department head may make or authorize others to make emergency procurements, regardless of cost, if there is an urgent necessity to do so for the preservation of life, health, or property. Such emergency procurements shall be made with such competition as is practical under the circumstances and shall be limited to those goods and services necessary to satisfy the emergency need. In the event that such emergency action is necessary, and the procurement cost is greater than two hundred fifty thousand dollars in any one transaction, the City Manager shall make a full and complete report to the City Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Use of mineral oxidants to treat wastewater at the Plant is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the Class 1 Categorical Exemption (CEQA Guidelines Section 15301, maintenance of existing facilities) and the Class 8 Categorical Exemption (Section 15308, an action taken to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment).
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
In mid-July of this year, the Plant had an algae outbreak in the Oxidation Pond System that abruptly changed the water quality coming out of our ponds. The plant came close to violating our National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the solids content (known as turbidity) in our Bay discharge. The Plant staff had tested a propriety chemical (a mineral oxidant from Jenfitch, Inc. named JC9645) earlier in the summer and found the product to perform well in bringing down the solids content (i.e., turbidity) in the wastewater even when the water quality was changing abruptly. The plant only had a few totes of the product available and, as such, the plant staff made an emergency procurement request for $245,000 - which was approved by the City Manager. The poor water quality got worse for the rest of July and into the early part of August. This resulted in the near exhaustion of the $245,000 procurement. At this point, the plant staff made a second emergency procurement request for $600,000 for the same product in mid-August which was also approved by the City Manager. Beginning the latter part of August, the water quality turned for the better and the plant stopped using JC9465.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is sufficient budget in Program 14601 - WPCP Operations to cover the increased costs associated with both these emergency chemical procurements as there are savings available in the electricity budget due to delays in the primary/headworks construction project. The current approved budget for chemicals this year is $2.7M. The plant staff is projecting a total expenditure of $3.0M that includes the mineral oxidant (there are savings from other chemicals). The electricity budget savings will cover the shortfall.
Since the water quality improvement in the latter part of August, the plant is no longer using JC9465. The original chemical regimen is now meeting discharge requirements. Of the $600,000 approved for the second emergency procurement, the plant has only used about $40,000 to date while the $245,000 from the first emergency procurement is fully exhausted. It should be noted that the water quality has the potential to change again abruptly and, if so, the mineral oxidant would be needed again to meet discharge requirements.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council meeting agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board at City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Public Library and in the Department of Public Safety Lobby. In addition, the agenda and this report are available at the NOVA Workforce Services reception desk located on the first floor of City Hall at 456 W. Olive Avenue (during normal business hours), and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Find that the Action is Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act Pursuant to Sections 15301 and 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines, receive the report of an emergency procurement to provide a Mineral Oxidant, to meet compliance requirements at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) and find that the project is of urgent necessity for the preservation of life, health, or property.
Staff
Prepared by: Lisa Vo, Acting Purchasing Officer
Reviewed by: Tim Kirby, Director of Finance
Reviewed by: Ramana Chinnakotla, Director of Environmental Services
Reviewed by: Jaqui Guzmán, Deputy City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager