Poor maintenance and testing, insufficient staffing and inadequate training may have contributed to Richmond’s six-day water crisis, according to a notice of alleged violation sent from the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water to the city on Thursday. In
the 16-page report , state health officials described the Jan. 6 meltdown of Richmond’s water treatment plant during a winter storm-related power outage as “completely avoidable.” “The water crisis never should have happened,” the report reads.
An aerial view shows the Richmond Water Treatment Plant, where a power outage earlier this month led to a systemwide failure that left the city without drinkable water for six days. ‘City could have prevented this’
While a comprehensive ODW investigation is in the works and should be complete by early April, the purpose of Thursday’s notice was primarily to inform city officials of two specific, potential state code violations related to water pressure and distribution in public waterworks.
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But perhaps more damning than the infractions — which were caused by the plant’s failure — was the report’s diagnosis of the circumstances that led to those infractions. “The city ... could have prevented this crisis with better preparation, by ... ensuring sufficient staffing was physically present in the event of a power outage, and making sure staff present ... had appropriate training to effectively respond,” the report reads. Much of what is contained in its pages has been reported in the weeks since the events unfolded. For example, Mayor Danny Avula in a Jan. 9 news conference said the plant’s failure occurred after a switchgear malfunctioned during the blackout, delaying the facility’s transition from its primary power source to a second source operated by Dominion Energy. The Richmond Times-Dispatch
later published records that show officials considered repairing or replacing the switchgear for at least eight years, but never followed through. While the ODW report makes no direct mention of the switchgear, it faults officials for not “verifying critical equipment was functional.” The total power loss caused valves to remain open, leading to flooding that “submerged critical pumps (and) electrical components not designed to be underwater,” the report reads. None of the three employees on site was an electrician or an instrumentation or maintenance specialist, according to the report, and they “could not or did not” manually close the valves or transfer the facility to backup power. Instead, an off-site electrician had to be summoned to perform the task. “The operation of all waterworks must rest in the hands of qualified staff,” says the report, referencing state code. “As a matter of routine practice, waterworks owners must anticipate, prepare for, practice and train staff to overcome a temporary power outage.” Despite the fact that the power outage occurred at around 6:50 a.m., city officials did not inform the Office of Drinking Water until between 2:30 and 3 p.m., the report says. “VDH is very concerned about the events that occurred,” it reads. “VDH is also concerned about receiving timely, accurate, and informative notice about significant equipment failures. The failure eventually led most Richmond neighborhoods to run completely out of water for days. Officials in Richmond and the surrounding localities, which purchase water from the city, issued boil advisories that were in place for nearly a week. In the wake of the crisis, Department of Public Utilities Director
April Bingham resigned . Avula appointed Scott Morris, former director of water for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, to replace her.
City has 30 days to respond
Those steps must be taken in the next 30 days, state health officials said. In a statement released in advance of the ODW report, city spokesperson Ross Catrow depicted the notice more or less as a formality. “(The notice) is a necessary and planned part of working with VDH on a corrective action plan,” Catrow said. “Richmonders should know that water flowing to residences and businesses is clean and safe for consumption, and that the ... plant continues to produce more than enough drinking water to support the needs of Richmond and its regional partners.”
City orders 2 independent pr
Officials on Wednesday announced two third-party investigations into the water crisis. The first,
a $234,000 review conducted by the engineering consulting firm HNTB, will assess the mechanical and technical failures at the plant, a city spokesperson said in a Wednesday news release. The second, a $400,000 review conducted by the consulting firm Hagerty, will analyze officials’ emergency response preparedness, according to Steve Willoughby, the city’s director of emergency communications. Speaking to the City Council’s committee on governmental operations on Wednesday afternoon, Willoughby said Hagerty would also help officials “identify federal and state resources for potential reimbursement.” Coming off a six-day water crisis, Richmond officials on Saturday morning declared the city’s water supply safe to drink, leaving restaurants, coffee shops, markets and more thrilled to get back to serving the community.
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