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Recommendation to Award a Contract in the Amount Not to Exceed $305,698 to AECOM Technical Services, Inc. for Containment, Off-Haul, Disposal, and Reporting of Hazardous Soil at the Project Site of the Emergency Operation Center/Fire Station 3, 1809 Grand Street. (Public Works # 310)
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Award a Contract in the Amount Not to Exceed $305,698 to AECOM Technical Services, Inc. for Containment, Off-Haul, Disposal, and Reporting of Hazardous Soil at the Project Site of the Emergency Operation Center/Fire Station 3, 1809 Grand Street.
BACKGROUND
In August 2012, AECOM Technical Services, Inc. (AECOM) performed initial soil and groundwater testing at the corner of Buena Vista Avenue and Grand Street, as the future site of the Emergency Operations Center and Fire Station 3 (EOC/FS3). In September 2012, the report findings for the soil were identified as “not Federal or State of California hazardous waste.”
The City Council approved the plans and specifications for the EOC on September 2, 2014 and for FS3 on March 3, 2015. On May 19, 2015, the City Council awarded a contract in the amount of $7,960,608 to Alten Construction for construction of the EOC/FS3.
DISCUSSION
In mid-July 2015, prior to off-haul and delivery, the analytic test results of the soil from the project site were submitted to a landfill facility for review as part of the disposal protocol. The test results identified low levels of lead in the soil consistent with the site’s prior use. As a result, the material was rejected for disposal at a Class II landfill. The City must now follow State of California guidelines for proper containment, off-haul and disposal of the soil. The City requires the assistance of a firm who is specially trained in remediation of hazardous materials.
AECOM was directed to perform additional testing to further define the area impacted by lead in order to possibly reduce the quantity of material that needs to be off-hauled to a hazardous material facility. Additional testing revealed that the lead is impacting approximately half of the volume of material and not the entire 1,000 cubic yard volume.
Per state law, all construction must cease until the hazardous materials are off-hauled. The contract with Alten Construction includes a standard construction provision in which Alten may submit a $1,289 per day claim against the project as reimbursement for staff costs due to delays outside their contract. This created an urgency to resolve the situation quickly in order to mitigate the amount of delay costs to the project.
On August 15, 2015, due to this urgency of daily claims, the Public Works Department entered into a sole source contract in an amount not to exceed $305,698 with AECOM for containment, off-haul, disposal, and reporting of hazardous soil. Public Works staff chose AECOM because they were already familiar with the project site and could expedite the off-haul process.
AECOM began remediation on August 18, 2015 and all soil off-haul and remediation is expected to be completed by August 26, 2015. Once completed, Alten will resume construction. During the time between mid-July and mid-August, Alten was unable to work at the site, which resulted in a $1,298 per day delay claim against the project. This claim cost is currently estimated to be $39,959. With additional soil remediation work and the project delay costs, the contingency for the project will be depleted.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Funding for soil remediation work to be performed by AECOM will come from current appropriations in the Emergency Operations Center Fund (Fund 0319) and the Fire Station 3 Fund (Fund 031901). Hazardous material on site was not anticipated and will deplete the project contingency. Further unforeseen conditions or work delays will require additional appropriations. Possible replenishment of the contingency for the project will be addressed during the upcoming discussion on the budget surplus.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action does not affect the Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is categorically exempt under CEQA Guidelines section 15332, In-Fill Development Project.
RECOMMENDATION
Award a contract in the amount not to exceed $305,698 to AECOM Technical Services, Inc. for containment, off-haul, disposal, and reporting of hazardous soil at the project site of the Emergency Operation Center/Fire Station 3, 1809 Grand Street.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Haun, Interim Assistant City Manager
Doug Long, Fire Chief
By,
Flavio Barrantes, Project Manager III
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. AECOM Contract