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Home My WebLink AboutBOARD MINUTES 09-27-79 1596 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE DISTRICT BOARD CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT HELD SEPTEMBER 27, 1979 The District Board of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District convened in a special session in the Administrative Conference Room at the District Water Pollution ControllReclamation Facility at the end of Imhoff Drive, Martinez, County of Contra Costa, State of California, on September 27, 1979 at 7:30 p.m. In the momentary absence of the Secretary of the District, President Carlson appointed Mr. Dalton, Deputy General Manager-Deputy Chief Engineer, to be Secretary Pro-tem and requested that he call roll. I. ROLL CALL PRESENT: ABSENT: Members: Boneysteele, Stanley, Campbell, Allan and Carlson Members: None II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Since this was a special meeting, no minutes were presented. II 1. EXPENDITURES None. IV. HEARINGS None. V. BIDS None. VI. OLD BUSINESS None. VIr. NEW BUSINESS 1. FIELD INSPECTION OF ACCIDENT SITE President Carlson stated that since two of the Board members had not seen the site of the Boiler Room accident, the meeting would be adjourned for twenty minutes for a tour of the site. The tour was completed and President Carlson reconvened the meeting at approximately 8:00 p.m. 2. STATUS REPORT ON PLANT ACCIDENT Mr. Dolan, General Manager-Chief Engineer (GM-CE), gave a brief overview of the events concerning the September 24, 1979, Auxiliary Boiler Room accident. He stated that the incident occurred on Monday afternoon and that most of the newspaper reports were factual. He was contacted at his office immediately after the accident, and Dave Niles, Robert Baker, and James Johnson were all in a meeting at the District Office in Walnut Creek at that time. We all arrived at the Plant at approximately 4:30 p.m. Aubrey Russell, Senior Engineer, had begun planning for necessary temporary replacement equipment and materials and had requested Ken Laverty, Purchasing and Materials Supervisor, to locate portable boilers. Portable boilers were located and ordered by 5:30 p.m. and arrived at the plant by 9:30 p.m. Ken Barker's Division had previously developed a plan to utilize portable boilers during the steam line repair work and we were able to utilize some of this planning. 0 ~~ n ,". f~ ''V i". '1 t:~ ~ ;iJ 1597 John Larson prepared a piping layout and the necessary piping materials were delivered to the site by 2:00 a.m. Tuesday. Nick Bane and his maintenance crew with assistance from Scott Mechanical Contractors, immediately began work on the piping installation and continued through the night and all day Tuesday. Steam was being produced by 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. The steam turbine driven aeration blower was put into operation at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Mr. Dolan, GM-CE, also indicated that the District was contacted by the press, radio and TV stations and the early information given to the media was necessarily conservative. The staff initially thought the secondary effluent quality would decline below the acceptable standard sometime on Tuesday a.m. However, laboratory reports were continuously watched and the quality of our effluent did not deteriorate to a level near minimum NPDES standards until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the 25th, at which time we diverted all effluent flow to the Plant Holding Basins. Primary effluent flowed into the holding basins until this afternoon (Thursday 27th), when we were able to get the quality of our secondary treated effluent back up to discharge standards. Therefore, no substandard effluent was ever discharged to Suisun Bay. The rapid recovery in our secondary process was made possible by reintroducing activated sludge, which had been removed from the system and stored by the Operations Division immediately following the boiler room accident. President Carlson stated that he was at the Plant Monday night and the efforts being applied by staff were very evident. A lot of productive discussions were going on. The reaction of the staff to the emergency was excellent, and we would like to commend the staff for the amount of work performed during that period. Clark Weddle, Deputy Chief Engineer, gave an overview of the work now in progress and to be done. He stated that staff had initiated a multi-pronged attack on the problems. The clean up work is in progress and will be completed as quickly as possible. Ocean Shore Boiler Works has been engaged to open up the boilers and inspect them for any damage. They will be sandblasting and repainting the boilers and certain other equipment in the boiler room. A roofing contractor will be on the site to check on necessary roof repairs and we have arranged for structural engineers to check the building for damage. We have contacted FMC Engineering, who are making the steam line modifications, and they are ready to start work on getting the boilers back on line. Dr. Weddle predicted that we could have the boilers operating under manual control in approximately two weeks, but operation by automatic control will take approximately six to eight weeks. In response to query by President Carlson, Dr. Weddle responded that the odor control units will eventually be replaced, but it is not a high priority item at this time, since a different method for odor control was being used. Mr. Dolan stated that a fact finding committee headed by Clyde Hopkins has been appointed. The committee consisting of staff members Clyde Hopkins, Bob Hinkson and Clark Weddle, and Tom Dawson of District Counsel's staff, are to determine the cause of the accident, responsibilities and how to avoid a similar incident in the future. They are in the process of developing a chronological sequence of events to determine what went wrong. Member Boneysteele asked if it might be a good idea to call in a professional safety engineer to assess the safety regulations. Mr. Dolan, GM-CE, indicated that this was already under consideration. President Carlson suggested that a paper be written for CASA regarding the accident so that other plants may be made aware of what happened and preclude the same thing happening at another plant. Secretary Hopkins stated that the Fact Finding Committee had interviewed about half of the people it intends to interview regarding the accident, and the report should be drafted in approximately one week and will be presented to the Board in Executive Session. OQ (!.) €1'11 ".-., J" ¡i ;~ f<J t~j' ~ (~ 6 ~~ 1598 3. DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY AND AUTHORIZATION FOR EXPENDITURE OF EMERGENCY FUNDS Mr. Dolan, GM-CE, stated that the situation resulting from the Auxiliary Boiler Room explosion requires a Declaration of Emergency and authorization to immediately expend funds necessary to get the plant back on line. In response to Mr. Dolan1s query, Walter Funasaki, Finance Officer, explained that an accident loss account will be established, to which all costs resulting from the explosion, including the repair of damages, will be charged. A unique summary defining accident costs will be attached to the accounting of expenses. President Carlson stated that it is important to keep an accurate accounting and to identify all accident costs by special account numbers. After discussion, it was moved by Member Boneysteele" seconded by Member Allan, to declare an emergency situation concerning all temporary measures and all repair and restoration of damage to plant facilities as a result of the Auxiliary Boiler Room explosion and to adopt a resolution authorizing $250,000 to effect this work. Resolution No. 79-216. Motion was unanimously approved. Member Boneysteele stated that as long as a Safety Engineer was going to be called in to look at safety regulations and procedures at the plant, it might be well to have him also look at other Departments of the District. VI I 1. REPORTS None. IX. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR 1. Member Allan asked if the effluent flows that had been diverted into the holding basins would effect the Holding Basin Modification Contractor and if so would he be compensated. Mr. Dolan responded that there is a move-out/move-in provision provided for in the contract. 2. Mr. Dolan,GM-CE, stated that the District staff is preparing a list of personnel who assisted in the rapid correction of problems that followed the explosion and suggested that if the Board thought it appropriate, they could make a commendation to those District staff members in the form of a resolution. After discussion, it was moved by Member Boneysteele, seconded by Member Stanley that a resolution be adopted commending all staff members who assisted in getting the Wastewater Treatment Plant back in operation after the Auxiliary Boiler Room explosion. Resolution No. 79-217. Motion was unanimously approved. Mr. Dolan requested an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters and possible litigation resulting from the boiler room explosion. At 9:25 p.m., President Carlson declared an Executive Session. At 9:49 p.m., President Carlson closed the Executive Session and reconvened the meeting. X. ADJOURNMENT At 9:50 p.m., President Carlson adjourned the meeting. I Ü '~I C) f~ t~;I ¡t-p ".ê < "'." (þ <:1. , I J I " '/',1 .,; I ¡" J t '-tlrv/----- ---/ President of the District Board of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: Secretary of the District Board of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, rnllnhl nf rnntrrl ro~t;L Strlt~ of rrlliforni;:¡