Sand Island project under fire
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
A major contractor at the city's massive Sand Island sewage treatment plant expansion project says a vital $70.7 million segment of the work was poorly planned and that oversight has been "incompetent."
Robison Construction Inc. claims in a lawsuit filed in state Circuit Court that design flaws related to a new sewage disinfection unit and pump station have cost $20 million and delayed the project by more than a year.
Named as defendants are the city and two other contractors: construction manager R.M. Towill Corp. and geotechnical engineering firm Geolabs Inc.
Both companies have been scrutinized for hefty campaign contributions they and associates made to Mayor Jeremy Harris.
Geolabs last year agreed to pay a $64,000 fine for donations that investigators found were illegal, and Towill is fighting a subpoena from city prosecutors seeking financial records.
The city is under heavy pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete the disinfection unit quickly and ensure that treated sewage dumped into the ocean poses no threat to humans or wildlife.
The EPA has cited the city for multiple violations of its federal sewage discharge permit, which required that the disinfection unit be completed more than 20 months ago.
The agency has ordered the city to show how it will complete the work, and recently rejected new permit compliance plans as too vague.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the contract with Robison requires the unit to be finished by October, and that work has not stopped despite the suit.
"That deadline remains in effect unless and until the city and its consultants agree that there is cause to extend that deadline or the courts should find that an extension of time is warranted," she said.
The lawsuit centers on problems with dense coral and heavy groundwater that Robison encountered while preparing the foundation for the disinfection unit.
Robison claims that three out of four samples of "jet grout" columns inserted into the ground as tests for the foundation were faulty, but that the city and Geolabs based their design on the single acceptable column.
"This was a major mistake, because the ground conditions in the vicinity of the test group were not indicative of the entire site. ... As time transpired, it became more and more obvious that the city and its consultants were not competent in the design and administration of the jet grouting specified for the project," according to the suit.
Coral in much of the area was far more dense than tests had indicated, which prevented the jet grout from taking a firm hold, Robison claims, but the city would take no responsibility for the problems.
The company says the problems have cost $20,939,374 and delayed the project by 410 days, and that "this calculation of time and money increases daily."
The City Council last year authorized Harris' administration to sue Robison if the company stops work, and to spend up to $75,000 on attorneys.
Robison's lawyer, former Hawai'i Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein, did not return calls. Towill and Geolabs had no immediate comment.
The disinfection unit is being installed to kill pathogens by blasting sewage with ultraviolet light before it is discharged in deep waters nearly two miles offshore. It is one of eight major components in the upgrade project, which is expected to cost $300 million in total.
Robison is also building an $82 million "headworks" unit to connect huge sewage pipes to the plant and filter wastewater inflow.
That component and several others, also required by the discharge permit, have been delayed by up to one year. PCB contaminants were discovered at the headworks site and had to be removed or isolated, records show.
EPA Environmental Engineer Jo Ann Cola said she remained optimistic that the city would produce acceptable revised plans to comply with the permit.
"We really expect them to come through, to be able to come up with a good plan to get everything moving again," she said. "I'm confident they will be able to come up with a reasonable plan that makes sense to all of us."
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
