REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
February 8, 2022
FROM
BRENDON BIGGS, Director, Department of Public Works - Solid Waste Management
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Geo-Logic Associates to Provide Operation, Maintenance, and Monitoring Support Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Contract with Geo-Logic Associates to provide operation, maintenance, and monitoring support services for the County's perchlorate and volatile organic compound groundwater treatment system at the City of Rialto Well No. 3 and other associated extraction and monitoring wells, monitor the ongoing expansion of the groundwater treatment system, and provide support for the pre-development investigation of the Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill Unit 5 waste disposal cell, in the amount of $5,826,563 from February 8, 2022 through June 30, 2026.
(Presenter: Brendon Biggs, Director, 387-7906)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as the Department of Public Works - Solid Waste Management Division (SWMD) is financed by fee revenue. SWMD establishes fees that are charged to the public and other agencies for utilization of the County’s Waste Disposal System. The contract cost of $5,826,563 for operation, maintenance, and monitoring support services from Geo-Logic Associates (GLA) will be funded with SWMD fee revenue. Sufficient appropriation and revenue have been included in the SWMD 2021-22 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
SWMD currently contracts with GLA to provide services associated with the operation, maintenance and monitoring of the perchlorate and volatile organic compound (VOC) groundwater treatment system (GWTS) at the City of Rialto Well No. 3, and associated groundwater extraction and monitoring wells in accordance with the State of California Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board (SARWQCB) Cleanup and Abatement Order R8-2004-0072 and California Department of Public Health Permit No. 05-13-09PA-042. This work is currently performed under Contract No. 13-552 approved by the Board of Supervisors (Board) on June 25, 2013 (Item No. 77), Amendment No. 1 on February 25, 2014 (Item No. 40), Amendment No. 2 on April 7, 2015 (Item No. 39), and Amendment No. 3 on May 22, 2018 (Item No. 96), with a current contract end date of June 30, 2023.
Work performed under Contract No. 13-552 includes certain services associated with the replacement of media, such as resin and activated carbon filters, repair and/or needed replacement of GWTS components, laboratory analysis of the groundwater treatment system samples, and oversight of a cooperative third-party expansion of the GWTS at the City of Rialto Well No. 3 site. The County is required to provide these services until such time as the third-party expansion has been completed and the applicable regulatory permits for operation have been obtained. Upon the completion of the third-party expansion, the City of Rialto will provide the operation, maintenance and monitoring services for the GWTS pursuant to Contract No. 15-636 as approved by the Board on September 1, 2015 (Item No. 34).
At this time, the third-party expansion has experienced delays and schedule adjustments, requiring the County to utilize GLA for the provision of these services for a longer duration than anticipated, thus incurring additional expenses. Concurrent with these delays, the GWTS components have reached their usable lifespan and the County anticipates an accelerated rate of equipment repair and replacement in the near future to maintain compliant operation of the system. In addition, prior to development of the permitted Unit 5 landfill cell for waste disposal at the Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill (MVSL), the County has been required by the SARWQCB to perform an extensive investigation and analysis relating to perchlorate source identification.
GLA has provided the County with outstanding services related to the perchlorate investigations since 1997 when perchlorate impacts in the vicinity of the MVSL were investigated by the County at the request of the SARWQCB. The work included sampling and testing groundwater monitoring wells for the presence of perchlorate, oversight of several groundwater monitoring well installations, collection of soil and groundwater samples for analysis, modeling groundwater flow, and preparation of numerous technical reports on behalf of the County. GLA’s technical and regulatory expertise offers the County a history of essential familiarity and experience to successfully implement the work required by the SARWQCB Cleanup and Abatement Order R8-2004-0072. This makes GLA uniquely qualified to provide the required operations, maintenance and monitoring support services as well as the investigative services relating to the development of the MVSL Unit 5 waste disposal cell.
To accommodate these impacts and provide a more focused and clear scope of work, with appropriate budget to accomplish the current regulatory required tasks, SWMD is seeking approval of this new sole-source contract with GLA. The proposed Contract end date is June 30, 2026, and the County for its convenience may terminate the Contract in whole or in part upon 30 calendar days advance written notice. If the Contract is approved by the Board, SWMD will terminate Contract No.13-552, which has an approximate remaining budget of $891,210.
The recommended action meets the County and the Chief Executive Officer goals and objectives to operate in a fiscally-responsible and business-like manner, and to provide for the safety, health and social service needs of County residents by providing additional monitoring safeguards to protect groundwater resources from further impacts by perchlorate associated with source areas at or near the County's MVSL, thereby reducing or limiting potential liability to the County. This item also ensures that the County is meeting its obligation in response to the SARWQCB's directive, and therefore, maintaining good regulatory standing by working with other agencies such as the SARWQCB.
PROCUREMENT
GLA's experience and expertise on the subject matter has played an important role in the decision-making process regarding groundwater impacts near the MVSL and the design and operations of the GWTS. Their knowledge of the contaminant distribution in the northern Rialto-Colton Basin, the requirements for the responsible parties, data collection, and reporting have proven beneficial to support the County's compliance with SARWQCB orders and response to third party allegations with regard to the groundwater impacts near the MVSL and qualifies GLA as the exclusive consultant able to provide these services. Based upon GLA's integral involvement in this project and their expertise, SWMD recommends approval of the proposed sole-source contract.
County Purchasing concurs with the sole-source justification and supports the request to issue this Contract for GLA to continue to provide their services.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Kristina Robb, Principal Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on January 10, 2022; Purchasing (Jason Cloninger, Lead Buyer, 387-8258) on January 11, 2022; Finance (Jessica Trillo, Administrative Analyst, 387-4222) on January 20, 2022; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on January 24, 2022.