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SFPUC selects Brown and Caldwell team to lead Southeast digester planning
Summary
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission voted to select Brown and Caldwell (with CH2M Hill and Black & Veatch) to provide planning and engineering services for a new biosolids digester at the Southeast Treatment Plant, approving negotiations for a contract up to $80 million and directing staff to return with CEQA and delivery-method recommendations.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on a unanimous voice vote approved selecting Brown and Caldwell, working with CH2M Hill and Black & Veatch, to provide planning and preliminary engineering for a proposed biosolids digester at the Southeast Treatment Plant and authorized the general manager to negotiate a professional services agreement not to exceed $80 million and up to 10 years.
Staff told commissioners the Southeast plant, commissioned in 1952 and handling roughly 80 percent of the city’s sewage, requires a timely digester replacement to stabilize operations and protect public health; Emilio Cruz, Assistant General Manager for Infrastructure, said the team met the RFP’s high minimum standards and proposed exceedance of local business participation goals and $1,000,000 of community benefits over the 10-year contract term. Cruz said staff will return before final design with results of the CEQA review and a recommendation on the alternative delivery method that could expedite construction.
The motion followed extensive public comment from Bayview Hunters Point residents and labor representatives urging the commission to act quickly. A community member said the neighborhood has “had to wait 10 long years” for action and described persistent odors and sewage impacts; Sean Smith of Carpenters Local 22 said labor supports a swift start so work and jobs follow. A speaker representing the Southeast Community Facility Commission said a formal support letter would arrive shortly.
Some commenters pressed for stronger direct community investment than the consultant’s pledged $1 million in-kind services; commissioners clarified—consistent with the commission’s community benefits policy—that the $1 million represents consultant-provided benefits offered as part of the contract selection and that the commission and staff will continue to pursue broader community benefits commitments from both the PUC and its contractors.
With the commission’s approval the selection will next go to the Board of Supervisors because the contract exceeds the city’s $10 million threshold. Staff said the goal is to issue a notice to proceed to the consultant team as early as July, subject to further approvals and CEQA outcomes.
The vote: motion moved and seconded on the record; chair announced the ayes and that the motion carried. The commission announced it will monitor CEQA and return with additional project-level recommendations.
