The company that made the membranes for Tampa Bay Water's desalination plant is now suing the utility.
By CRAIG PITTMAN
Published March 13, 2004
The future of Tampa Bay Water's troubled desalination plant got a little more tangled Friday when the company that made the salt-filtering membranes filed a federal lawsuit against the utility.
Hydranautics, a California company owned by a Japanese conglomerate, contends in the lawsuit that it is improper for Tampa Bay Water to fix the $110-million Apollo Beach plant with money from a bond the company posted.
Anything wrong with the plant, the suit says, is the responsibility of Tampa Bay Water and its main contractor, Covanta, which filed for bankruptcy.
Tampa Bay Water's attorney, Don Conn, called the lawsuit "astounding" and a Covanta spokeswoman said the contractor would join the utility in battling a separate legal challenge.
Hydranautics' objections could complicate Tampa Bay Water's plans to hire a contractor to fix what's wrong with the plant.
"Hydranautics is not responsible or liable for the purported deficiencies in the facility, and has no obligation to cure any deficiencies, or to complete the facility, or to pay the costs associated therewith," the suit states.
The plant, built next door to Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend power plant, is supposed to take 40-million gallons of seawater every day, filter out impurities, force it through tightly woven membranes and produce 25-million gallons of fresh water and 15-million gallons of brine.
The plant's 10,000 membranes each cost $500. In setting water rates, Tampa Bay Water planned on each one lasting five to seven years. Replacing them more often would drive up water rates, utility officials say.
The plant, which was supposed to be finished by Jan. 31, 2003, was producing 21-million gallons of freshwater a day as of January. But the membranes clog too quickly, suggesting the system to filter impurities needs fixing. Tampa Bay Water officials estimate fixing the filter system could cost as much as $14-million. Not fixing the problem could lead to replacing the membranes more frequently than expected.
The plant's contractor, Covanta Tampa Construction, missed several deadlines to fix the filter problem last year. Then, when Tampa Bay Water was ready to fire the company, Covanta filed for bankruptcy in New York, a move that stymied the utility's attempt to take control of its plant.
Last month, the utility agreed to pay Covanta more than $4.4-million to settle the company's claims and make it go away. As much as $500,000 more would be paid to subcontractors. On Monday Tampa Bay Water officials are scheduled to hear from three companies seeking to take over the desal plant and fix it.
However, Hydranautics objected to Tampa Bay Water's plan to pay off Covanta, filing a formal notice in New York bankruptcy court that it opposes the settlement.
That money ought to be spent fixing the plant, not handed over to the company that Tampa Bay Water has blamed for fouling things up, Hydranautics' attorney, John Foster, said in a news release.
To help pay for the fix, Tampa Bay Water notified Hydranautics on March 1 that it would seek access to a $24-million performance bond that the California company posted during the plant's construction. But Hydranautics contends that since its membranes are not the problem, the bond cannot be used to fix what's wrong.
In going after the performance bond, Tampa Bay Water officials declared Hydranautics had abandoned the job since May.
But Hydranautics officials say they completed their contracted work and were paid the contracted amount of $8-million. Foster accused Tampa Bay Water officials of "playing the blame game."
"I find it astounding that a contractor who has abandoned a job, which is what Hydranautics has done, can now claim to have no responsibility for completing it," said Conn, Tampa Bay Water's attorney.
