Itasca suing engineers over problems at wastewater treatment plant
Itasca officials say they've lost patience with engineers who designed their $39.5 million wastewater treatment plant that, after three years, still is not as efficient or environmentally friendly as promised.
The village on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Baxter & Woodman Inc. and its affiliate for breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed in DuPage County, seeks $4 million in damages and design modifications.
"We purchased a $39.5 million state-of-the-art, green facility that would produce Class A sludge while also allowing us to be good stewards of the ecology in and around Salt Creek," Village Administrator Evan Teich said. "We want what we've paid for. We've given (engineers) extension after extension as they try to get it right, but the time has run out."
Officials say the plant along Prospect Avenue is operational and the public is safe. But it is operating at a subpar level that officials fear could land them in the sights of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
"We've not run afoul of the IEPA, but we don't want to," Teich said. "That shouldn't even be an issue with the plant and design we thought we purchased."
Teich said the sludge being produced by the plant is essentially a "pea soup" mixture, instead of a moist solid material, making it nearly impossible to haul and use.
"It's nearly impossible to haul the liquid because it leaks out," Teich said. "We can't be hauling this stuff through Roselle dripping pea soup the whole way. The IEPA would frown heavily on that."
The production of Class A sludge, the highest quality to be produced from a plant, was a key element to the village gaining support from local environmental groups before breaking ground on the plant in 2009.
Teich said the plant's ultraviolet disinfection system, which uses UV wavelengths to kill bacteria before discharged water enters Salt Creek between May and October, also has been inconsistent.
"When the flow is too high, water spills over the top of the lights and any water passing over the light is then not being treated," Teich said. "And when the flow is too low, the lights turn themselves off completely."
During such periods, he said, the water continues past the shutdown system and into Salt Creek without being disinfected.
Village Attorney Chuck Hervas said the processing cycle, as a result of the faulty dewatering system and limited UV treatment flow, takes longer to complete, has required significantly more labor and materials, and has caused greater wear and tear on the equipment than it was designed to take.
Hervas said the village has spent additional money to have another engineer examine the problem and suggest solutions, but Baxter & Woodman is in no hurry to redesign the process.
"They're married to their design, no matter how flawed we've proven it to be," Hervas said. "We believe they want this fixed, but they only want it fixed using their design. We believe it's time for another solution."
Village officials say the plant's technical monitoring equipment and software is also faulty. Teich said the equipment is supposed to allow plant supervisors to monitor the facility remotely on their tablets or cellphones, but it rarely works.
"The plant director is supposed to get alerts when there are hiccups in the system so that if a pump shuts down he can access the system and reboot. Or if an emergency pump kicks on he can figure out why," he said. "Without that, we're waiting for someone to physically get to the plant and identify the problem. That could potentially waste very important time."
Baxter & Woodman spokeswoman Deborah Finn did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.
According to the lawsuit, the village is demanding a jury trial to settle the matter. The first scheduled court date is 9 a.m. May 15 in courtroom 2014