Game of Floods - Wastewater Plant
Plant Manager
Assignment: Read the role assignment and background reading below, then answer the questions at the end.
Role Assignment:
You are the plant supervisor at Resilient’s wastewater treatment plant. You are proud of the plant – it has an excellent safety and service record. You are concerned about the potential impact of storms and sea level rise on the low-lying plant, and you think the best way for the town to protect its investment is to build a sea wall and pumping system to protect the plant. You are deeply skeptical of ‘soft engineering’ solutions like living shorelines – a sea wall sounds safer and more reliable. Relocation of the plant would be a huge waste of money – it was renovated only eight years ago, so there’s still a lot of life left in the current plant, and so far the plant has been fine in storms.
Background Reading:
City to consider building a wall to defend wastewater plant against hurricanes
By Sheldon Gardner
Posted Jan 24, 2019 at 8:26 PM Updated Jan 25, 2019 at 6:33 AM
St. Augustine is trying to decide what to do to defend its wastewater treatment plant from floods.
The plant sits along the Matanzas River at one end of Riberia Street in Lincolnville.
The facility processes about 3.5 million gallons of wastewater on an average day, sending out treated water into the river, said Steve Curmode, city wastewater treatment plant supervisor.
The wastewater treatment plant is vulnerable to flooding and sea level rise, according to the city and a report from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Community Resiliency Initiative. The report urged the city to start hashing out a plan for the wastewater treatment plant because of the expense and because of the plant’s “indispensable role in the city.”
In 2018, the city agreed to pay more than $44,000 for a “climate resilience planning analysis” of the wastewater treatment plant.
Aerial view of the St. Augustine plant
The analysis, conducted by North Carolina-based engineering firm McKim & Creed, includes cost estimates of defending and moving the plant. The report says that building a sheet-pile wall around the plant with a pump station would cost between $3.7 million and $5.3 million depending on the height and level of hurricane protection. The pump station would address rain that falls within the wall and any water that leaks through the walls, according to the report.
Though it’s not clear how much of an impact a wall would have on the marsh, the Community Resiliency Initiative report raised concerns about armoring the wastewater treatment plant. Hard armoring can include seawalls and revetments, and soft armoring can include beach renourishment or living shorelines.
Armoring “would damage or destroy the marsh by displacing wave energy onto it,” according to the report. “Because this impact on the marsh would make the surrounding area less resilient to storms and flooding, armoring the facility would not only require a significant investment but would also, at best, be a partly maladaptive measure for the city as a whole.”
Other alternatives include doing nothing, elevating electrical equipment, and putting up mobile barriers around equipment before a storm.
Relocating the plant would cost $63 million, according to the McKim & Creed report. That doesn’t include costs such as real estate, so the total would probably be closer to $80 million, said Public Works Director Mike Cullum.
The city’s budget this year is about $58 million.
Cullum said he plans to ask the City Commission on Monday for direction on what path to choose and how quickly to act.
In addition to looking at walls, the city is looking into alternative energy sources for backup power, such as solar, Cullum said. The city is also working on other projects to address flooding concerns. That includes raising equipment for sewage pumping stations to help prevent power outages and sewage spills.
For whatever the city chooses, city officials will look for grant funding to help, Cullum said.
Questions:
1. Why is the city of St. Augustine concerned about its wastewater treatment plant?
2. According to the Climate Resilience planning analysis, how does the cost of the wall/pump system compare to the cost of plant relocation?
3. Who is concerned about the impact of a wall on the marsh, and why?
4. Answer this question in character as plant manager at the Resilient wastewater treatment plant (see the role description at the top). Why should the city prioritize building a wall and pump system at the wastewater treatment plant? Give two reasons.
Once you have answered the above questions, move on to Part 2 here.
Back to Wastewater Plant Landing Page