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Board approves contingency items for biosolids thermal dryer; staff says dryer will sharply reduce truck traffic
Summary
Board approved change control items for the full‑scale biosolids thermal dryer; staff said the dryer could reduce daily truckloads from "6 to 8" to "less than 1" and produce Class A EQ biosolids usable as soil amendment.
The Water Resources Board approved contingency allocations and change control items for the full‑scale biosolids thermal dryer, a project staff said should substantially reduce truck traffic to the landfill and convert material to a higher‑use soil amendment.
A staff presenter summarized the paper update, noting typical construction changes such as resizing pedestals and adding reinforcement for catwalks and piping. He described items including HMI controls and conduit repairs totaling several specific entries and said, "It does not affect the contract amount. It does not affect the contract time. And we still have over half 1,000,000 in the contingency allowance."
On operational benefits, staff said the dryer will be a major change, explaining, "we're talking about going from, say, 6 to 8 truckloads of material every single day to less than 1 truckload." He added the product will be "class a EQ biosolids, which is essentially legally dirt," and said the material could be used on city farms and properties or offered to others as a soil amendment.
Board members asked where the remaining small volume would go; staff replied it could go to city farms or other city properties. A voice vote approved the contingency items; staff indicated the project timeline is moving and anticipates startup ahead of the initial schedule.
