A lawsuit filed three years ago in Pottawatomie County District Court by the city of Shawnee against three companies hired to engineer and install an ozone machine for treatment of the city’s water has been settled through mediation.
The lawsuit, which originated in 2006, sought resolution regarding the inability for the city to use a machine installed at its water treatment plant.
The unit was ordered and installed at the plant in order to comply with a consent order issued by the Department on Environmental Quality, who at that time found disinfection efforts resulting in less than acceptable water quality at the plant.
“The carbon levels were too high for DEQ,” John Canavan, city attorney, said previously.
Mayor Linda Peterson said the unit “has been turned on” but had never been used successfully. And in addition to the unit’s inability to provide the necessary disinfection of the water, ozone gas was released into the building in which the unit is located, creating a health hazard for employees, she said.
“At the top of our list is that the building will be safe,” Peterson said.
The machine took about one year to install, after approval of its construction in 2004, she said.
Phase 1 of the construction was handled by a company named Holloway, Updike & Bellen who conducted the preliminary evaluation of the water treatment, Peterson said. Phase 2 was handled by a company called Garver and included an engineering study on the treatment process and a list of recommendations, she said.
The third company involved in the unit’s construction and in the subsequent lawsuit is Ozone Technology, Inc. That company manufactures the equipment used to create the ozone unit, Peterson said.
As a part of the settlement — which included more than nine hours of mediation with City Commissioners Carl Holt and James Harrod accompanying Peterson and Canavan in attendance — the city will pay its remaining portion of the costs associated with the unit’s purchase, engineering and installation.
“The city is not receiving any funds through the settlement,” Peterson said. “For $26,000, we will get what is essentially a year’s maintenance contract with OTI and they will be available to us for consultations, free of charge, for 12 months.”
The settlement and the additional consultation, along with training of employees responsible for operating the unit, brought a sigh of relief for some city officials.
“I’m excited about moving that mountain,” City Manager Brian McDougal said. “I’m anxious to see some resolution to it and to know the city staff that operates the equipment will get the proper training to use it.”
McDougal said he expects that by mid-January, the final agreement, as reached in mediation and approved by commissioners, will be typed up and signed by all parties. At that time, he said, the city will “be able to come in and work with them” on fulfilling the agreements set forth in the memo of understanding that resulted from the mediation process.
Peterson said that before the unit can be used, it will have to be inspected both dry and with water running through it, to ensure that it is properly disinfecting the water and that no harmful gases are released into the building.
Although the city has been unable to use the ozone unit for disinfection of its water supply in recent years, other alternatives have been used with success, Jim Bierd, utility director, said previously. Bierd also said the water quality is “as good as it’s ever been” and that the water is safe and “exceeds the DEQ’s minimum requirements for water quality.”
As for the agreements set forth in the memo of understanding that resulted from the mediation process, they are as follows.
• The city will dismiss its pending lawsuit with the defendants, with prejudice, within 10 days of approval of the settlement by city commissioners.
• After the dismissal is entered by the court, Garver will visually inspect the Ozone Contactor for conformance with project plans and specification and, based on conditions observed, will advise the city of non-conforming work. This inspection will not exceed 160 work hours.
• Based on a visual observation of the Ozone Contactor, Garver will provide the city with an estimate of cost to recommission the ozone treatment process.
• The city agrees to make the plant available for visual inspection by Garver.
• OTI agrees to find and fix the problem of ozone discharge in to the building; agrees to provide 12 months telephone consultation; and agrees to assist with up to five days of visual observation of the Ozone Contactor and estimation of the cost to recommission the ozone treatment process. The city will release the final payment to OTI and contribute about $26,000 toward interests and costs due on the withheld payment for a total that will not exceed $100,000; HUB will pay OTI $10,000 toward interest costs and fees; and OTI waives all other costs and fees.
• All claims and counterclaims are dismissed with prejudice; all parties waive all claims arising out of the filing of the lawsuit; and all parties pay their own attorneys’ fees.
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
