Kiewit-Stantec design-build team breaks ground on $400m groundwater remediation projects in Los Angeles

The Kiewit-Stantec design-build team recently broke ground on two multi-year projects that together total $400 million and will help remediate water from the San Fernando Valley Groundwater Basin (SFB) for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).

The SFB covers 226 square miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The new state-of-the-art facilities at the North Hollywood Central Response Action Treatment Facility and Tujunga Well Field Response Action Treatment Facility will address historical groundwater contamination from post WWII and cold-war era industrial operations in the area.

The projects include:

•  new pretreatment automatic backwash strainers
•  10 largest-of-their-kind ultraviolet advance oxidation process reactors
• 54 13,000-gallon granular activated carbon units
• 12 miles of pipe
• nearly 250 miles of electrical cable

The state-of-the-art projects are part of LADWP’s remedial actions for the Rinaldi-Toluca and Tujunga operable units.  Remediation and restoration of beneficial uses of this portion of the basin will protect public health, and in turn support utilizing LADWP’s annual water rights and goals to reduce imported water dependence.

Once fully restored, the SFB can provide drinking water to more than 800,000 Angelenos. LADWP is completing the two projects pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund.

Today, local groundwater provides approximately 11% of the City’s total water supply. In some drought years it has provided more than 20% of the City’s total supply. The City gets most of its water from the Los Angeles Aqueduct—which is Eastern Sierra snowmelt—and from the California Aqueduct, which is water from the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta.

Mike Watson, Stantec senior vice president commented:

“Just one year after commencing design, we’re excited to see the opening construction activities taking place at the North Hollywood Central Response Action Treatment Facility and Tujunga Well Field Response Action Treatment Facility,”

“This is an important step in providing clean, reliable drinking water to the residents and businesses of Los Angeles. I’m very impressed with the efforts of Kiewit, LADWP and our design team to rapidly and safely advance the design of these facilities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Tony Joyce, Kiewit vice president added:

“LADWP’s commitment to taking an accelerated approach to address the groundwater remediation challenges, needs to be commended”

“Using a Progressive Design-Build project delivery approach – developed with LADWP in a collaborative environment – our team is now positioned to successfully deliver this unique project. Not only is this an important step in addressing hazardous substance releases and at the same time providing clean, reliable drinking water to the residents and businesses of Los Angeles—but this project and approach provides a great example for other communities that face similar challenges.”

When completed in mid-2023, the projects will play a central role in helping LADWP achieve the remedial action objectives of the response actions selected by LADWP for these two operable units.

At the same time, the systems will treat and deliver up to 75 million gallons of water per day.

Stantec is providing process, civil, mechanical, building mechanical, structural, architectural, landscape architectural, and instrumentation and control engineering design services.

Kiewit is providing electrical engineering design services, as well as self performing or managing all construction activities.