From: Barbara Sully
To: City Clerk Dept User
Cc: Soheila Bana; Claudia Jimenez; Eduardo Martinez; Gayle McLaughlin; Melvin Willis; Cesar Zepeda; Doria Robinson
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Monday, December 11, 2023 8:02:01 AM
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Hello,
I live in Brickyard Landing, Pt. Richmond. My daily walk is generally the highlight of my day, out in the fresh air getting good, healthy, calming exercise. There have always been a variety of intermittent disturbing odors where we live, unfortunately - But the past few weeks or longer, I find that I can't breathe properly or fully enjoy the out of doors due to the extreme odor of sewage in the air. I worry because this cannot possibly be healthy, and because I find it difficult to take a good breath due to the acrid smell.
I understand that there is a meeting to discuss this issue on December 12. Unfortunately, I am not available to attend - But please, please, please address this very unpleasant and unhealthy situation.
Thank you for your attention,
Barbara Sully
From: DEE BELL
To: City Clerk Dept User
Cc: Cesar Zepeda
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Monday, December 11, 2023 7:40:52 AM
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
To who. It May Concern:
I have been a resident of Point Richmond since 2001.
Over the years the toxic odors / releases seem to have gotten worse and more frequent.
I get severe headaches and have trouble breathing this air. It makes me feel like I have some kind of sickness. I need to close up all my windows and stay inside with an air purifier when it is beautiful weather outside.
Please do something to stop this problem.
Thank you,
Dee Bell
From: [email protected]
To: Soheila Bana; Claudia Jimenez; Eduardo Martinez; Gayle McLaughlin; Doria Robinson; Melvin Willis; Cesar Zepeda; City Clerk Dept User
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Monday, December 11, 2023 6:28:47 PM
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Dear Richmond City Council members, Richmond City Management, and Staff,
I’m writing – begging -- you to do something about the noxious and dangerous threat to health currently posed by Violia and its appalling mismanagement our wastewater facility on Canal Boulevard.
For weeks we have been suffering constant noxious fumes akin to living on a manure pile. The smell isn’t just distasteful, it’s become so strong as to make our air unbreathable.
Whereas before I was simply embarrassed by people visiting Richmond commenting on how much our city reeks, the problem has now become so bad it is affecting my health. I wake up at all hours, throat burning and coughing so hard I can’t breathe, simply because I made the mistake of leaving my bedroom window open a crack. My throat is swollen, and I’ve coughed so hard some days that it has caused my throat to bleed.
I just cannot understand how Veolia has been repeatedly approved to contract with the City of Richmond, given that they have a such a long and documented history of being unable to run the plan in a responsible way and completely disregarding the health and safety of Richmond residents. This may very well be the worst public-health situation they have created, but it’s by no means the first. Or even “one of the few.” Veolia has repeatedly demonstrated either reckless disregard or abject incompetence in operating that wastewater facility properly – and it sits, puking dangerous fumes day and night, within a quarter mile of a middle school.
I implore you to take this matter seriously and do more to monitor Veolia and ensure that is operating the wastewater facility in a way that doesn’t put the health of Richmond’s children and adults at risk.
Edith Alderette
116 Nicholl Avenue
Richmond
From: UTR
To: City Clerk Dept User
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Sunday, December 10, 2023 8:48:09 PM
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This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
I am unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting regarding the Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant that is managed by Veolia Water North America. Thank you for putting my comments below into the record.
The stench from Veolia woke me up on Santa Fe Ave last week, coughing and eyes burning in the middle of the night. No windows were open - this miasma made its way through air intake vents, then hung indoors for the rest of that night and even well into the next day. My dogs had repeated sneezing fits, me, a nagging headache.
I didn’t write it down at the time, or call anybody - it was simply the worst of many similar days and nights recently in Pt Richmond. I don’t open my windows lately. And hiking in the Miller Knox uplands, the air has been so pungent some days it’s actually nauseating.
Whether or not these are major risks to our health, the regular assaults are clearly sickening.
And nothing new. But aside from long suffering Richmond residents, it often seems nobody gives a damn, because Veolia gets away with violating our air time after time, year after year, with nary a shrug of its corporate shoulders.
I’d like to think this could change, that Veolia can be forced to respect its neighbors and remediate the situation. It is in that spirit that I’ve shared these thoughts.
Thank you,
Karen Johnston
431 Santa Fe Avenue
Sent from my iPhone
From: Leisa Johnson
To: City Clerk Dept User; Eduardo Martinez; Gayle McLaughlin; Cesar Zepeda; Soheila Bana; Melvin Willis; Doria Robinson; Claudia Jimenez
Cc: Shasa Curl; Dave Aleshire; Dave Aleshire
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2023 10:47:49 AM
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This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Dear Mayor and City Councilmembers,
I am writing in opposition to Veolia and once again requesting that you please direct staff to immediately open up a RFP to find a new manager of the Richmond Municipal Sewer District.
We all know that this plant has issues. It should have been closed down in 2001 and the City should have entered into an agreement with EBMUD.
Unfortunately, that did not occur and the powers that be in the City entered into an agreement with Veolia while Isaiah Turner, the City Manager at the time, and his wife, fair quite well out of the deal.
While this plant certainly has its challenges, that does not excuse the mismanagement and fraud that Veolia has demonstrated over the past 22 years under its management. Below is a high level summary of just some of this.
A. On July 2, 2008, the City sent Veolia a Demand Letter. In that letter, the City revealed that a forensic audit and legal review of the contract determined that Veolia had:
failed to perform contracted work timely and appropriately; had charged and been paid for work that was not; and
had consistently billed for work improperly, resulting in payments that are in excess of that provided for under the Contract.
Veolia had improperly charged the City for profit, costs, expense and for undocumented subcontractor work. Additionally, Veolia had consistently failed to comply with its obligation to competitively bid scopes of work.
Summary of the Claims:
Veolia has breached the Contract and violate and violated applicable CA law in numerous ways, including but not limited to:
1) invoicing for and receiving payment for work not performed; 2) submitting improper or marked-up costs;
3) improperly billing for profit and overhead;
4) billing “contingency” Task Order items without change order, change in scope or explanation;
5) failing to perform Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) inspection and cleaning of the City’s sewer systems;
6) neglecting to implement a Computer Maintenance Management System (CMMS); 7) failing to provide the requisite data for the City’s Geographic Information System (GIS); 8) providing misinformation in support of the Master Plan and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP);
9) failing to perform necessary capital improvements;
10) performing services without valid licensure, and illegally taking profits during this period; 11) violation of the subcontractor bidding process;
12) mismanagement and failure to take responsibility for sewer system overflows (SSO); and 13) numerous false claims under the California False Claim Act.
As per the Demand Letter, Veolia’s errors and omissions caused the City over $11.6M in breach of contract damages.
Many of those breaches entitled the City to treble damages, meaning an additional $14.4M, not including an additional $10,000 penalty per false claim.
Finally, Veolia’s actions with respect to portions of the Contract rose to the level of fraud which, if proved, would have entitled the City to yet additional damages.
The City’s demand letter called for Veolia to pay the City the sum of $26M in settlement of those claims. Of note, that demand did not reflect a complete evaluation of the potential damages to the City, because the extent of the damages from certain of Veolia’s failures, while very real, are currently impracticable to calculate.
The City settled for pennies on the dollar -- less than $2M. Why? The Public has never been told why the taxpayers were never made whole.
Of note, this settlement was approved under Gayle McLaughlin’s watch when she was Mayor.
B. On July 7th, 2020, immediately after the City Council approved to increase the sewer rates for ~67% of Richmond property owners, predominantly in the lower income areas, by another 37.5% over the following five years, I pulled two consent calendar items that should have never been on there.
Ultimately, what came to light over the course of several council meetings, Veolia and a subcontractor did *not* actually complete work on 33 lines (as revealed by CCTV camera footage) that they deemed repaired & completed and charged us taxpayers for. Veolia got paid their 16.5% markup on work that was never completed. Veolia and the sub said the CCTV footage was “lost”; upon “redoing” it, it was determined that 14/33 lines were NOT repaired.
Based on just the 2018/2019 RAA contract and the resulting "Makeup Work” (how it was coded in the Agenda Report), it is clear that many of the same findings of alleged fraud that Veolia was found to have committed in 2008 were still happening 12 years later.
That led to yet additional litigation, which as I understand it, is still in arbitration.
C. For years I have been imploring this council to submit an RFP to identify a new facility manager.
Veolia’s contract was due to expire in 2022 and it is my understanding that we were beyond the time period to have to pay an early termination fee.
What did we get instead?
Members of this council, including Mayor Martinez and Councilmember Willis, voted unanimously in 2018 to extend Veolia’s contract another 5 years to 2027.
Why?
D. Over the last several years, we have experienced numerous H2S releases and stench that adversely affects the health and quality of lives of numerous residents, many of whom are seniors, workers and elementary students.
In 2023 alone, we have had numerous H2S releases that have exceeded Veolia’s permitted threshold of 60 ppb.
In 10 out of 12 months we had more than one alert.
Most of those alerts exceed the 60 ppb threshold by two- to three-fold; one as high as
5.3-fold, 320 ppb, on 8/14/2023.
Based on my email records, we received the following # of alerts in excess of 60 ppb.
January: 30 alerts
February: 42 alerts
May: 10 alerts
June: 6 alerts
July: 8 alerts
August: 3 alerts; peak at 320 ppb on 8/14/2023
September: 3 alerts
October: 21 alerts
November: 2 alerts
December to date: 30 alerts
There are more alerts that are just below the 60 ppb threshold, at which level you can readily smell and be adversely impacted by H2S.
E. It is my understanding that Veolia contracted with WR Forde for the work on Dornan Drive associated with the Ferry Point sewer lift pump station retrofit.
Last month they closed down Dornan Drive, and we were specifically told that this was in violation of their permit with the city.
This was simply unacceptable as they blocked off one of only two emergency ingress and egress routes out of BYC, and residents and workers were effectively trapped in the cove by numerous trains that morning, some for over 20 minutes.
When is the community’s public health and safety finally going to be addressed by this City?
My questions before this council again:
1. When was the last forensic audit done and if it wasn’t in the last year, then I respectfully request one is performed ASAP. Without this, we have know idea if Veolia perhaps owe taxpayers millions of dollars.
2. How much money has been spent on wastewater matters over the last 22 years?
3. Were competitive bids utilized for all said expenditures, including all associated contracts?
4. Is the City in compliance with the Baykeeper settlement agreement? If not, why not?
5. Has the City paid to perform repairs that did not need to be made? If so, why?
6. Who is minding the store and whose interest do they serve?
7. Why did the City settle with Veolia for less than $2M in 2008/2009 under your watch, Vice Mayor McLaughlin?
8. Why are contractors who are alleged to have committed fraudulent activity or consistently underbid in order to win contracts and then submit multiple change orders (as relayed at the July 7th, 2020, city council meeting) still on the pre-qualified contractor list?
9. Knowing all of this, why, Mayor Martinez and Councilmember Willis, did you vote to extend Veolia’s contract for 5 more years through 2027?
10. Why has the Council still not put out an RFP to identify a new facility manager? Lastly, when you see your constituents at public events, please don’t go up to them and tell them that, "We all know Veolia is robbing us blind”, as former Councilmember Demnlus Johnson did to me (with witnesses) at a Black Lives Matter event in 2020. It’s not funny and we deserve so much better than what we have been getting over the past 22 years.
The community is imploring you to please represent us, do what is right, and find a new manager for this plant ASAP.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Leisa
From: Philip Rosenthal
To: Soheila Bana; Claudia Jimenez; Eduardo Martinez; Gayle McLaughlin; Doria Robinson; Melvin Willis; Cesar Zepeda; City Clerk Dept User
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Monday, December 11, 2023 11:49:27 AM
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Dear City Management, Staff and Council Members,
Please take the issues of the Veolia- managed sewage plant way more seriously than you have been.
City staff have a responsibility to monitor and enforce the work and environmental impact of its contractors.
City Councilmembers, please act as if this plant is in your district and demonstrate the same concern for the neighborhoods that are directly affected by the noxious fumes from this mismanaged facility as you would if your re- election was dependent on your actions.
Veolia has displayed bad faith for years and years, perhaps they should be replaced.
I vomited on the street while walking down the block last Friday night. Neighbors report headaches, dizziness and nausea. Even with windows closed, our houses are filled with a noxious stench.
Please realize that this plant and its contractor need constant monitoring and a more discerning eye.
KRGDS, Phlip Rosenthal
--
This message is intended to be confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message from your system and notify Philip Rosenthal immediately. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or omitted to be taken by an unintended recipient in reliance on this message is prohibited and may be unlawful.
From: Philip Rosenthal
To: City Clerk Dept User; Cesar Zepeda; Melvin Willis; Doria Robinson; Gayle McLaughlin; Eduardo Martinez; Dave Aleshire; Claudia Jimenez; Soheila Bana; Shasa Curl
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Date: Monday, December 11, 2023 9:12:05 PM
Attachments: Sewage Treatent Plant letter 121123 Agenda Item L.1, Veolia to send.docx This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This email originated from outside of the City's email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Please confirm receipt of the below letter. The Neighborhood Council will discuss the response at our January meeting and we want the city manager and the Clerk to confirm receipt.
Thanks and KRGDS,
--
Philip Rosenthal
PRNC President
[email protected]
(510)593-9017
1 of 2
December 11, 2023
City of Richmond
Shasa Curl, City Manager
Pamela Christian, City Clerk
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond CA
RE: Agenda Item Agenda Item L.1, Veolia
Dear City Staff and Council:
This letter comes from the PRNC board on behalf of the community. Our community has borne the ramifications of the noxious emissions form the Veolia- operated sewage treatment plant for years.
The community reports nausea, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness. Surrounding neighborhoods are dealing with stench outside and inside their homes.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) readings are of serious concern as they are frequently exceeding their permitted level of 60 ppb. Using 2023 as an example, we have experienced numerous H2S alerts in 10 of the 12 months (March & April were exceptions).
Of note:
1) The monitors have frequently detected excessive H2S levels that appear to resolve within 4 to 25 minutes, only to then spike again a short time later. 2) H2S levels frequently exceed their permitted level by two- to three-fold, with the highest detected level in 2023 exceeding five times the permitted level (320 ppb on 8/14/2023).
3) While their permitted H2S threshold is 60 ppb, many people can be adversely impacted at significantly lower levels:
a. Some community members have sensitive olfactory receptors and can smell H2S when levels exceed 10 ppb on Veolia’s monitors. b. Some even experience adverse health impacts (e.g., headaches, dizziness, nausea) at these lower levels.
2 of 2
It is also concerning that Veolia has stated that their H2S sensors are “suspect”, which begs more questions.
1) If the monitors are malfunctioning and potentially giving erroneous/false reads, then why can the community detect/smell H2S and experience adverse symptoms (e.g., headaches, dizziness, nausea) during and outside of the alert windows?
2) When the noxious H2S stench is chronic, why aren’t their sensors detecting this, even on calm days where wind patterns shouldn’t be impacting the north and south sensors?
With or without these H2S sensors, thousands of residents, workers, and elementary students can smell and are breathing the noxious air, adversely affecting their health and quality of life.
Please hold Veolia responsible for the proper maintenance and operation of the plant, and accountable for notifying the City and community in a timely manner when they schedule maintenance or repairs, or have an operational malfunction, that may/does result in H2S levels that exceed their permitted threshold.
Sincerely,
Philip Rosenthal
Philip Rosenthal, PRNC President
(510) 593-9017
[email protected]
pointrichmond.org