Costs rise in sewage plant's expansion
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Construction delays continue to plague the city's Sand Island sewage-treatment plant expansion project, and costs have risen to nearly $350 million, according to plans submitted to federal and state regulators.
A critical sewage disinfection unit that is far behind schedule and is the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit will be delayed another year, the documents show.
And three more major components will not be finished by deadlines set in a federal permit that allows the city to dump treated sewage into the ocean.
Some of the setbacks are because of unforeseen PCB contamination at the site, which forced work to halt and cost more than $1 million to resolve, according to the plans.
Other delays stem from construction difficulties that the lawsuit contends resulted from "incompetent" planning and management of the work, a charge that the city strongly disputes.
The plans are included in the city's latest response to federal inspections by the Environmental Protection Agency that found the plant in violation of the discharge permit last year.
The city has been under increased federal pressure to show how it will correct the problems and ensure that wastewater from the plant does not threaten marine life or recreational waters.
The plans state that "we do not believe the existing discharge is posing an unacceptable public health risk," a position the city has long maintained.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa did not respond to repeated inquires about the status of the plans over several weeks and did not return calls yesterday. The EPA and state Department of Health received the documents this week and have yet to review them, officials said.
The total cost of the Sand Island project has steadily risen as design work was completed and construction got under way. The plans show the current total is expected to be $348.4 million. It is unclear exactly how much costs have risen because so much design work had to be completed, much of which was not firmly established at the beginning.
Meanwhile, the City Council agreed yesterday to more than double the amount that will be spent on private attorneys to defend the city in the lawsuit, from $75,000 to $180,000.
The plaintiffs, Robison Construction Inc., allege that design flaws and shoddy management have driven costs of the $77 million disinfection unit up by $20 million and caused unnecessary delays.
The city had rejected the company's demand for an extra $12.5 million and 410 more days to complete the work, and determined that the claim was "largely without merit."
The plans say that the disinfection unit is now expected to be finished by October 2004 and that Robison "is currently making good progress." The original completion date was July 2002.
Also named as defendants in the suit are the city's construction manager, R.M. Towill Corp., and geotechnical engineering firm Geolabs Inc.
Both companies have been under scrutiny for large political contributions that they and associates made to Mayor Jeremy Harris' election campaigns.
Geolabs agreed last year 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.
Prosecutors have been investigating whether any city contracts were awarded in exchange for campaign contributions to the mayor, but have filed no charges in that regard.
Harris, who has insisted that campaign money has no effect on contracting, has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
