JC Post published a story on Jan. 6 on the discussion with Veolia Water concerning the recent problems at the Junction City Water Plant that followed the major winds that swept through the area on Dec. 15. Now Veolia North America has released a statement with their response.
Veolia North America has engaged technical experts and other specialists to evaluate the basement flooding that caused the power outages at the plant. It is clear that the original design of the plant was not meant to address weather of this magnitude, particularly since the plant’s electrical systems are located in the basement. We continue to work closely with the City to ensure the plant is operating safely while also working to identify flaws in the plant’s electrical system to determine why main power could not be restored. It is an unfortunate situation, and the VNA team is conducting a root cause analysis concerning the plant’s design and will work closely with the City to make sure this issue does not occur again.
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Jan. 6 report:
Junction City officials continue their discussions with Veolia concerning what occurred at the water plant that led to the recent loss of water for multiple days in the community. Allen Dinkel, City Manager, said they think they know what happened. "It was operator error on behalf of the employee of Veolia Water. We're digging through who's going to pay for it and we have had a lot of discussion with Veolia. "
Dinkel noted that some repair work is still being done but the plant is operational. He added that he was not sure if all of the HVAC system was up yet. "Changes are also being considered in Phase Two remodeling of the plant.
Dinkel confirmed that there are discussions with Veolia on that company making some sort of compensation to the city but the city manager was not able to release more information at this time.