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PUC presses for near-term fixes to Southeast plant odors, asks April schedule and budget
Summary
Commissioners urged immediate steps to reduce odors from the Southeast wastewater plant, asked staff to return April 22 with schedules and budgets for several fixes (truck loading enclosures, a ~ $6.3M channel contract, clarifier covers and interim digester tenting) and requested a report on what is needed to meet sewer inspection, cleaning and repair targets.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission commissioners on March 11 pressed staff to begin near-term work addressing persistent odors at the Southeast wastewater treatment plant and to present a schedule and budget at the commission's April 22 meeting.
Commissioner Sklar outlined four categories of action he said could be done quickly rather than waiting for the master plan or lengthy environmental review: enclosing truck loading of dried solids with exhaust and scrubbing; a roughly $6.3 million contract to rehabilitate water channels between clarifiers; physically covering the exposed clarifiers and routing air through carbon scrubbers; and an interim 'tenting' approach for digesters with exhaust and carbon filtration. Tommy Udall, manager of the Southeast plant, told the commission staff believed these measures were feasible and that staff would return with engineering schedules and budget estimates.
The commission also asked for a separate April 22 report on sewer system performance: what it will take to meet the operations' inspection, cleaning and repair targets across about 1,000 miles of sewer. Commissioners asked staff to frame that report as outputs tied to permit requirements and to identify whether the work should be resourced via staff positions or on-call contracts; the commission said it would hold the manager responsible for meeting those targets once resourcing is set.
In budget discussion, commissioners also reviewed Transbay cable payments being received at roughly $97,000 a month. Staff confirmed those receipts are tracked in a separate "bucket" and agreed to show the Transbay receipts as a distinct revenue line in the current budget and to include the matching expenditure earmarked for energy-efficiency work in the Southeast community, reflecting the commission's earlier commitments.
What happens next: staff agreed to return April 22 with a schedule and budget for the Southeast odor measures and with a report on what it will take, in money and/or positions, to meet sewer inspection and repair targets for the coming year.
