The city of Portland is moving forward with a nearly $18 million project to construct a treatment facility that will reduce the amount of lead in its drinking water.

The Improved Corrosion Control Treatment project is being carried out to meet the requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s Lead and Copper Rule. The Portland Water Bureau and the Oregon Health Authority agreed to a compliance schedule that requires the facility to be in operation by April 2022.

Portland City Council voted Wednesday to accept a guaranteed maximum price of $17,989,637 from MWH Constructors to serve as the project’s construction manager/general contractor. The global firm, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, is the parent company of Stayton-based Slayden Construction Group.

The new treatment facility will be located alongside the Water Bureau’s existing Lusted Hill treatment facility in east Multnomah County. The facility will include a new building to house treatment systems, a utility water pump station, and associated piping and support systems.

The aim of the project is to reduce lead exposure from home plumbing systems by using sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide to increase the pH and alkalinity of the water. The increased alkalinity will improve the stability of the pH, which increases the effectiveness of the treatment and reduces the levels of lead at the tap by decreasing the amount of metals leaching from pipes into the water.

MWH Constructors was selected as CM/GC by an evaluation committee that reviewed three proposals submitted in January 2019. The project’s design process commenced in mid-2018, and construction is expected to commence this summer following execution of the contract.

MWH Constructors has committed to dedicating 25.91 percent of the project’s hard construction costs, or $2,460,409, to firms certified by the state’s Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID). The project is one of three being monitored by the city’s Community Equity and Inclusion Committee, which provides oversight of Community Equity and Inclusion Plan (CEIP) projects valued between $10 million and $25 million to ensure that contracting and employment opportunities are provided for racial and ethnic minorities, women and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Projects executed under the CEIP have higher participation goals than those that are not. The plan requires 22 percent participation by COBID-certified firms, as well as performance of 31 percent of total apprentice-level labor hours and 28 percent of total journey-level labor hours by minorities and women.

MWH Constructors will self-perform about $4.7 million worth of the project’s hard construction costs, and approximately $9.5 million of remaining work will be distributed through a subcontracting plan in accordance with the CEIP. As part of a pre-construction services contract, MWH Constructors has advertised four early procurement packages for various aspects. The remaining subcontracts will be advertised after a construction contract is executed.

The project is one of two included in the Water Bureau’s Bull Run treatment projects program, which also includes the approximately $800 million Bull Run filtration project. Both projects were included in a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan application filed by the bureau earlier this year; that loan will provide up to $745 million of funding for the projects.

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The city of Portland has received proposals from three contractors interested in building the Bull Run Filtration Plant, a water treatment facility – estimated to cost between $550 million and $650 million to construct.

A request for proposals for a construction manager/general contractor for the project drew submissions from Hoffman Construction, MWH-Kiewit Joint Venture of Hillsboro and Arizona-based Sundt Construction.

The facility will be constructed on a 90-acre area of unincorporated Multnomah County near the Gresham border. Granular media filtration will be used to daily treat between 145 million and 160 million gallons of water from the Bull Run watershed.

The project will include construction of an administration building, a clear well measuring up to 16 million gallons in volume, a mechanical dewatering facility and other support buildings. Earthwork could require exporting more than a million cubic yards of dirt.

Stantec Consulting Services Inc. is designing the filtration facility, and the city has hired Brown and Caldwell to provide program management and support services. The plant is the major component of the Bull Run Filtration Projects – an estimated $820 million effort that will also include construction of pipelines carrying raw and finished water into and out of the facility. The pipeline work will be designed and constructed under separate contracts.

The city earlier this year issued an RFP for design services on the pipeline portion of the project, and on April 20 issued an intent to negotiate and award to Jacobs Engineering Group.

The project is being carried out by the Portland Water Bureau at the direction of the Oregon Health Authority as a result of the presence of cryptosporidium in the Bull Run watershed. After multiple tests in 2017 revealed the presence of the pathogen, the OHA revoked the city’s variance from federal rules requiring treatment of cryptosporidium.

A compliance agreement between Portland and the OHA requires pilot plant results and preliminary planning to be completed by Nov. 30, 2020, submission of final construction plans and schedule by Oct. 31, 2022, and water delivery meeting OHA and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements by Sep. 30, 2027.

The RFP sought proposers with experience delivering large water or wastewater projects using the CM/GC method. The city of Portland’s Procurement Services division is currently in the process of evaluating proposals, and will likely conduct interviews during the selection process before issuing an intent to award, which is expected to occur next month.

Portland City Council last month agreed to enter a loan agreement with the EPA to provide up to $745 million of funding for the Bull Run Filtration Projects. The city’s Debt Management Division and the Water Bureau will seek to finalize terms and execute loan agreements this summer. The filtration facility has entered a two-year design phase, while planning for the pipelines is under way and will move to a design phase next year.

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The city of Portland is looking to take another step toward kick-starting a massive water filtration facility project by issuing bonds to finance a major portion of the work.

The City Council on Wednesday heard a first reading of an ordinance that would authorize the city to enter a loan agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide up to $745 million for the Bull Run Treatment Projects, which include a state-mandated filtration facility and pipeline currently estimated to cost around $820 million.

Under the proposed legislation, water revenue bonds would be issued as a direct loan with the EPA under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), a program aimed at stimulating infrastructure spending, improving ratepayer affordability and creating jobs by offering extremely low project financing costs.

Speaking to the City Council during an electronic meeting on Wednesday, city debt manager Matt Gierach said that if the terms for a loan agreement were finalized that day, the city could borrow at a rate of about 1.15 percent for 35 years – a rate that, with inflation, would essentially mean the city was borrowing that portion of the project’s financing for free.

During that time frame, Gierach said, the city would benefit from the economic stimulus of constructing the project while deferring payments into the future. The WIFIA program allows for loans to be drawn out over time, and repayment to be deferred until five years after substantial completion – 2032, in the case of the Bull Run filtration facility, which by mandate must be in operation by 2027.

The project is being undertaken to treat the Bull Run watershed for cryptosporidium, a pathogen that was detected in multiple tests in 2017. As a result of the tests, the Oregon Health Authority revoked Portland’s variance from federal rules requiring treatment for cryptosporidium, and the city agreed to construct a treatment facility to be in operation by 2027.

The City Council in November 2019 voted to proceed with a recommended option for the filtration facility that will treat 145 million gallons of water per day using ozone and conventional filtration. The council also voted that month to authorize a $51 million contract with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for design of the water treatment facility, which will be located on a 95-acre parcel in unincorporated eastern Multnomah County. A separate contract for design of the pipelines servicing the facility is expected to be issued this spring.

During Wednesday’s council meeting, Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty both said they’ve heard concerns from residents, businesspeople and others over the project’s cost and its impact on water rates. The Bull Run watershed provides drinking water for over 650,000 Portlanders and 300,000 additional residents of other Portland-area municipalities that purchase water from the city.

Hardesty said that while she supports the WIFIA loan, she is still not sold on the project as a whole.

“My biggest concern is smaller cities dropping out of our water program and deciding that they’re going to go their own way,” she said. “If that continues to be a major issue, we may need to think about whether or not this project makes sense. I just want to say publicly that my vote today for this in no way should imply that I’m on board 100 percent with us moving full-tilt ahead with this scenario.”

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees the Portland Water Bureau, stated that the 2027 deadline for project completion means that it cannot be postponed. Further, she added, the timing is ideal for it to proceed because of the availability of a very low-cost loan and the opportunity to create jobs amid widespread unemployment.

“This project is expected to create 7,500 direct jobs,” she said. “We can put Oregonians back to work now, and spread the cost to a generation of ratepayers who will benefit from the improvements. At this time in the COVID-19 pandemic when so many people are losing their jobs, losing their health and losing their financial security, this opportunity is more important than ever to pursue.”

Wheeler agreed, saying that there’s not going to be a better time in the next decade to finance projects through the issuance of bonds due to low interest rates being pushed by the federal government.

The ordinance will receive a second reading at a future council meeting. Upon approval, the city’s Debt Management Division and the Water Bureau will seek to finalize terms and execute loan agreements this summer. The filtration facility has entered a two-year design phase, while planning for the pipelines is under way and will move to a design phase next year.

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The city of Portland is moving forward with a plan to construct a state-mandated water filtration plant despite an unexpected increase in the estimated cost that left some city councilors reeling from sticker shock.

During a council work session with Portland Water Bureau officials in September, bureau director Michael Stuhr revealed that the project’s cost – originally estimated in 2017 at about $350 million to $500 million – could now potentially be more than $850 million.

The main reason, explained Stuhr, is that original estimates didn’t include construction of pipelines to service the plant. That portion was not included in early estimates because at that point the city had not decided where to locate the facility.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, taken aback by the price escalation, let his displeasure with the omission be known.

“It would have been very helpful for me to know that what we were talking about at that time was not the total project cost – that we were talking about merely one component of an overall system,” Wheeler told Stuhr. “We needed to know that we were talking about a piece of a system that could not operate, work or function in any reasonable manner in the absence of the rest of the system.

“I just want to put that on the table,” he continued. “I’m disappointed in that.”

The project is being undertaken to address regulatory requirements and potential impacts of natural disasters on the Bull Run watershed. After multiple tests in 2017 revealed the continued presence of the pathogen cryptosporidium in the watershed, the Oregon Health Authority revoked Portland’s variance from federal rules requiring treatment of cryptosporidium. The city then entered a compliance agreement with OHA requiring construction of a treatment facility that is operable by September 2027.

During the September work session, Stuhr and bureau officials presented city councilors with three options for the project, with cost estimates ranging from an estimated $670 million to meet minimum requirements to $850 million for a more robust version.

After Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty balked at the price, Water Bureau officials solicited feedback from the Portland Utility Board and Citizens Utility Board before returning in front of City Council Nov. 13 to recommend an $820 million option.

The recommended option would include most of the features of the full implementation option – including ozone and conventional filtration, two pipelines into and out of the facility for redundancy, and clear well storage – but would have a slightly lower treatment capacity of 145 million gallons per day, resulting in a $30 million cost savings.

City councilors on Nov. 27 approved adopting the recommended option to guide design and implementation. They also voted to authorize a $51 million maximum contract with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for design of the water treatment facility, which will be located on a 95-acre parcel in unincorporated eastern Multnomah County. Both items passed with 3-0 votes; Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly were absent.

A separate contract for design of the pipelines servicing the plant, estimated to cost $20 million more, is expected to be issued in spring 2020. Design work is set to begin next year and run through the end of 2022.

The bureau ought to have a more concrete number on the project’s cost by the middle of 2021, when the design is anticipated to be about 30 percent complete. Construction is expected to begin in 2022 and run through the end of 2026.

The filtration facility will come without the bells and whistles that have led to cost overruns on other city projects, according to Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees the water bureau.

“I have directed the water bureau staff to work toward a no-frills facility,” she said at last week’s council meeting. “No interpretive center, no fancy finishes except landscaping and exterior improvements designed to fit into the surrounding area.”

Wheeler, recognizing the importance of the project, called it the best long-term option for maintaining a safe drinking water supply. At the same time, he cautioned that the council had yet to solidify a cost estimate, and the current $820 million price tag is a low-confidence approximation that is likely to increase.

“The cost of construction, the cost of labor are going up, and so it is my expectation that the cost of the project will go up,” he stated before voting to move forward.

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The Portland City Council on Wednesday authorized an exemption to the low-bid process and an alternate contracting method for the city’s $350 million to $500 million project to construct a water filtration plant at Bull Run.

City officials have been wrestling with options to build a massive water treatment plant to address the persistent presence of cryptosporidium in Bull Run’s raw water intake. The waterborne parasite has been found in five samples taken by the city this year, most recently in April. It also appeared in several tests during the 2017-18 winter.

The parasite’s presence forced the city into a compliance agreement with the Oregon Health Authority to build a filtration plant. Terms of the agreement call for the plant to be in operation by Sept. 30, 2027.

City officials have selected engineering firm Brown and Caldwell Inc. to serve as project management consultant. The first reading on the firm’s selection was Wednesday, and the contract is expected to be formally approved during a second reading next week. The contract is worth $67.89 million.

Brown and Caldwell is based in Walnut Park, California, but it has a Portland office on Southwest Macadam Avenue.

Brown and Caldwell’s Jon Holland is listed as program manager. The consultant is required to adhere to the city’s guidelines for disadvantaged, minority-owned, woman-owned and emerging small-business contractors. The contract proposes 22 percent DMWESB participation.

According to the Portland Water Bureau‘s timeline, a construction manager-general contractor will be selected for the project in the fourth quarter of 2019. Hiring a CM-GC is likely to lead to lower costs and a faster construction schedule, said David Peters, principal engineer for the Water Bureau. The CM-GC will be selected through a competitive request for proposals process.

“This is a fully competitive process,” Procurement Services Manager Larry Pelatt said. “There is no limitation on who can bid, but you do want to get some specialized kind of people.”

City officials are considering a plant with capacity to filter 160 million gallons per day, according to documents presented to the City Council. That will meet peak-day capacity until 2045. A facility smaller than 145 million gallons per day would require increased use of groundwater, while a larger facility is not supported by growth projections, according to the Water Bureau.

The plant’s capacity, location and method of filtration are still to be decided, Commissioner Amanda Fritz said. Further community consultation is expected in early 2019.

Last year, the council voted to move forward with planning for a filtration plant. An ultraviolet light treatment system was considered but ultimately rejected.

The Water Bureau has applied for an Environmental Protection Agency grant, Pelatt said.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, Dee White, a local resident who actively follows water issues, criticized costs of previous city projects and questioned the city’s process in selecting contractors.

“This is not so transparent,” she said.

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Portland’s City Council must decide by early August whether to direct the Water Bureau to build a $150 million ultraviolet-light reactor or a $350 million to $500 million water filtration plant to fight microscopic parasites.

The city has been ordered by the Oregon Health Authority to treat its water for cryptosporidium after the parasites turned up in a series of tests in January, February and March.

Health authorities revoked Portland’s 10-year variance from federal drinking water rules requiring treatment for cryptosporidium in the aftermath of the tests that detected the parasite.

OHA issued the variance in 2012 and revoked it on May 19. The City Council held a work session Tuesday to discuss the way forward.

“We cut the deal that we did, and it became obvious that our water system does not deliver water of the quality of a filtration plant,” said Michael Stuhr, director of the city’s Water Bureau.

City commissioners now must make a decision quickly. They must decide on a treatment option by Aug. 11 to adhere to an OHA compliance schedule. To meet that deadline, an Aug. 2 hearing has been set aside for commissioners to pass a resolution directing the Water Bureau on a course of action.

Building a UV treatment facility would be cheaper and faster. It could be built in about five years, Stuhr said. A UV treatment facility would also fit at the city’s headwaters facility at Bull Run Lake.

A filtration plant would cost much more, take 10-12 years to construct and would be built most likely at Lusted Hill, on a parcel along Carpenter Lane in east Gresham, Stuhr said. The city purchased the 90-acre site years ago with a treatment facility in mind.

Either facility could include solar panels to offset their energy use, Stuhr said.

Filtration plants are more effective than UV facilities for a wide variety of water-quality issues, Stuhr said.

“The water professionals’ answer has been filtration plants, because they are so effective and have been able to handle anything anyone’s cooked up,” he said.

Portland could build a UV facility that would work for 20 to 30 years, while setting aside funds to convert the facility to a treatment plant, Stuhr said.

Cryptosporidium outbreaks cause a diarrheal disease that is particularly dangerous to those with weakened immune systems, such as AIDS patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control. During the worst such recorded outbreak in U.S. history, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1993, 69 deaths were attributed to the cryptosporidium outbreak, according to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel account.

Such an outbreak is a possibility in Portland as long as the water is untreated, Stuhr said.

“If crypto takes hold, it can wreak havoc with your most vulnerable populations,” he said.

No outbreak was detected in Portland despite the presence of the parasites earlier this year, said Paul Lewis, a Multnomah County health officer.

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