County fueling-system work required major dewatering; costs and contract amendment may follow

Dennis Louvy told commissioners the county set new fueling-system tanks and had to pump out substantial groundwater during installation, with an initial test showing slight contamination that required coordination with the City of Faribault for disposal.

"I think we had to pump out a 140,000 gallons," Louvy said, describing a dewatering operation that used multiple pumps, 20,000-gallon containers and tanker transfers to city leach fields to mitigate volatile organic chemicals detected in initial testing. He said the county worked with the city's public-works staff (Travis Block) and that the dewatering activity may require a contract amendment; final costs were not available at the meeting and Louvy estimated additional expense "might be in the tens of thousands of dollars." He cautioned the contract was roughly $700,000 and that some dewatering cost was expected but the extent exceeded original allowances.

Louvy described mitigation steps—using subcontractors, forming dewatering perimeters and consulting project managers—and said the contractor is proceeding to set foundations and canopy work weather permitting. He said staff will return with final numbers if the amendment exceeds the county's 10% contract-change threshold.