WWTP delay costing city $20k, possibly more

A delay in the startup of the City of Custer’s wastewater treatment plant to its new discharge location is costing the city thousands of dollars, it was learned at the July 21 meeting of the Custer City Council.

The city received a letter from a pair of contractors—RCS Construction and DGR Engineering—outlining additional charges the city will have to pay due to the planned startup being pushed back. The proposed startup of the facility was put on hold after the group Preserve French Creek filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to prevent the city from discharging the effluent from the plant into French Creek instead of Flynn Creek.

The plant was initially to be restarted June 13 prior to the filing of the lawsuit. 

The city is renting a pair of pumps from RCS Construction that are being used to circulate effluent through the plant’s new Submerged Automated Growth Reactor ponds to keep the ponds active. RCS is providing four electric two-inch pumps, a weekly pump inspection and will have to retest plant effluent when and if the system is fired up.

RCS quoted the city a cost for a seven-week delay (July 13 through Aug. 1) at a total cost of $9,700, which includes $3,500 for remobilization. The city will be hit with an additional daily cost of $100 per day if the delay lasts past Aug. 30.

As for DGR, the engineer for the project, it seeks payment of $10,000 per month the project is delayed.

In a letter to the city, DGR laid out the factors for the additional costs, including additional coordination with the contractor, additional site visits and construction-related meetings and coordination with city staff.

“It’s really a fine, basically,” alderwoman Jeannie Fischer said.

Mayor Bob Brown agreed, saying the contractors are waiting to close out their contracts, and can’t do it because the project can’t be finished while the issue is tied up in court.

Brown also questioned whether the city could attempt to get the money back when the court case is resolved.

“That’s in a later discussion,” city attorney Austin Schaefer said.

The council, like the Custer County Commission before it, heard from representatives of Black Hills Energy (BHE) at the meeting, as Michael  Pogany, general manager of South Dakota Electric Operations for the utility, led a presentation laying out the process of BHE enacting a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS).

“A PSPS is really the last resort measure of planning in the event environmental conditions are present that a wildfire could be started,” Pogany said.

As he did with the commission, Pogany laid out the parameters through which a PSPS would be enacted, including wind gust speeds of 45 to 55 mph, as well as low relative humidity.

Pogany went through what the process to get to a shutoff would look like, which includes monitoring the weather five days out before honing in on possible PSPS weather at three days out.

Within 72 hours of PSPS, Pogany said, BHE would begin communication with emergency managers, county officials, city officials, etc., warning them of a possible shutoff. From there 12-hour monitoring periods would be established using predictions from not only the National Weather Service, but also BHE’s weather stations that already exist, with more coming.

If within 48 hours the conditions still exist notification to the public of a possible shutoff would begin through the media, text messaging to customers, the internet, etc. At the four-hour mark, a decision would be made whether or not to make it an official warning.

Pogany added the warnings could be called off at any time if conditions improve.

Alderman Todd Pechota asked if BHE would be looking at observed wind speeds or forecasted, and which network would be used to gauge wind speeds. Pogany said observed speeds would be used from all available sources.

Pechota also asked whether 20-foot or midflame wind speeds would be used. Twenty-foot winds refers to the sustained wind speed measured at a height of 20 feet above the ground or, if present, above the tree canopy, while midflame speeds refers to the estimated wind speed at the height of the flames during a fire.

“It makes a big difference,” Pechota said, encouraging BHE to factor that into its decision-making matrix since they are not the same.

When and if a PSPS occurs and circuits are deenergized, once the weather conditions that caused the PSPS pass BHE will patrol its lines to make sure they are OK to be reenergized.

Pogany said over the past six years there was one year where there would have been two such shutoffs, a couple of years where there would have been one shutoff and a year where there would not have been any. The shutoffs would have lasted anywhere from two hours to seven hours, which does not include patrol/reenergizing time.

In addition, Pogany told the council it is the shoulder seasons—not the height of summertime—when the shutoffs would have happened in the past based on available data.

“A PSPS does not mean the entire Black Hills is going to be shut down,” he said. “This will be focused areas selectively chosen based on weather conditions.”

Pogany reiterated a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service does not mean a PSPS is imminent. The criteria for a PSPS is more stringent than that for a Red Flag Warning, he said.

Brown asked if there is a way for BHE to isolate the city’s power if there is a PSPS, with Pogany saying equipment known as switchers and reclosers allow BHE to narrow down how large of an area a shutoff effects.

“Our capital strategy over the next couple of years is to put in a lot more of that equipment,” Pogany said. 

Pechota questioned why BHE doesn’t install the equipment prior to enacting its PSPS program, with Pogany saying there’s a balance between system reliability and the investment it requires along with what customers pay for a bill.

“We’re trying to balance safety of the communities with responsible investment and providing service that people can afford,” he said. “It’s a tough balancing act.”