CFPUA to pay engineering firm up to $49,500 for GenX options

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The costs of the GenX issue continue to mount for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority.

According to a contract WWAY obtained through a public records request, the authority wants the engineering firm Black & Veatch to develop a GenX PFC Treatment Options Study. CFPUA has agreed to pay the company as much as $49,500 for its work.

According to the agreement, Black & Veatch will help CFPUA “in understanding potential treatment options for” GenX, including preliminary process analysis and help with pilot testing. That work includes developing a list of potential treatment alternatives and weighing the pros and cons of those options, initial testing and figuring out how to implement the best options. CFPUA has  said, according to the contract, that it will pay for pilot program expenses, including rental feed and equipment, pilot operations, sampling and lab fees.

According to twice daily updates provided by CFPUA Board Chair Mike Brown, Black & Veatch representatives visited the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant June 19 to start looking at the services in might provide CFPUA. Brown’s update Friday said the company had begun its work.

Black & Veatch is scheduled to submit its first memo to CFPUA by July 14 and hold a workshop the following week. A second memo is scheduled for submission August 25 with another workshop to follow.

The contract says “[i]f it is determined that treatment is to be implemented, additional services, such as process piloting, regulatory review, preliminary design, detailed design, and construction phase services, would be negotiated later.”

Last week WWAY learned CFPUA is paying up to $25,000 for a Raleigh-based PR firm to help handle the GenX situation.