Jackson can finally put a controversial sludge-hauling program in the books.
The Jackson City Council recently approved the final payment to Partridge-Sibley Industrial Services and GA Transport (PSI-GA), the firm brought on to haul tons of sludge from the Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Meanwhile, officials in public works hope to put a program in place to prevent sludge build up from again becoming a problem at the plant.
The change order increased the final amount of the project by just under $96,000.
It was approved unanimously.
“There was about a five percent increase in volume and we had to pay for a pump they rented (after) ours was struck by lightning,” Miller said. “This takes the contract to close out.”
The pump was down from November 2017 to May 2018, and cost approximately $18,600, city documents show.
Even with the increase, the contract is about $5.5 million cheaper than originally anticipated, a positive ending to what has been a messy situation.
In 2016, the city hired the joint venture including Partridge-Sibley and GA Transport in 2016 to haul some 305,000 tons of “dewatered” human waste from the plant.
The waste had collected over the years in the plant’s storm cells, reducing Savanna’s capacity to store untreated wastewater.
The materials had to be removed as part of Jackson’s sewer consent decree.
Last year, city officials had to renegotiate the agreement after learning the amount of biosolids had been grossly overcalculated.
Instead of being 305,000 tons, just under 100,000 tons were present.
“The sludge was in the dewatering units for so long that it dried out more than the contractor thought they would,” he said.
The city began removing the sludge in 2014. The materials were stored in large “geotextile tubes” on the Savanna plant property.
The tubes would allow the waste to dry out, in part, to reduce its weight and size, before being hauled away.
In 2015, former Mayor Tony Yarber twice attempted to award a $15 million contract to a political donor, but both efforts were voted down by the council.
The following year, Yarber brought forward a recommendation to bring on PSI-GA, which the council approved amid concerns that the city wouldn’t meet consent decree deadlines.
Jackson entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency in 2012. Under provisions, the city had until December 31, 2017 to remove the waste from the Savanna plant or face daily fines.
Meanwhile, sludge again has been building up in the plant’s storm cells.
The cells are basically giant lagoons, where untreated wastewater is stored during peak flow hours.
Solids accumulate in those lagoons when water is pumped out of them for treatment.
Over time, the accumulations reduce the lagoon’s storage capacity. Because of that increased capacity, during peak times, the city has been forced to release untreated wastewater into the Pearl River.
Miller told the council Jackson needed to have a program in place to remove solids before they become a problem.
“We’ve bought ourselves all kinds of trouble by treating (sludge hauling) as an event, rather than a process,” he said. “This would need to be done often.”
The plant is owned by the city but managed by a private contractor. In 2016, the council brought on Veolia Water North America to oversee operations.
The company was awarded a $10.9 million management contract to oversee the plant for 10 years and has an option to extend the lease agreement for an additional five.
Miller said he plans to review terms of that contract to see who is responsible for solids disposal.
