Playing It Safe

The Project

This project involved the conversion of a client’s two discharge lagoon treatment system into a non-discharge land application system. Doing so included the construction of a couple of lift stations and accompanying pressure line, a pumping facility and a center pivot irrigator. Also required for the new system was the construction of a fifteen-acre, 35-million-gallon wastewater storage lagoon. There are a handful of factors involved in the construction of such a large lagoon that can be difficult to accurately predict and subsequently, can also cause serious issues if field conditions vary from what was anticipated.

Projects Rarely Go as Planned

Projects rarely go exactly as planned. Inevitably, situations will arise over the course of a project that will require some adjustments to be made or at least some unforeseen decisions to be made. Usually (hopefully), any issues that arise throughout a project’s construction are minor. However, sometimes larger issues are simply unavoidable, regardless of how well thought out and thorough the design of a project. Uncovering a long-buried dumpsite during excavation for a project is something that could likely be considered unavoidable. This is exactly what happened while excavating the large storage lagoon site.

What happens when a large deposit of unidentifiable waste material is discovered during excavation?

The Problem

Not too long after clearing the site and scraping off the topsoil, excavation began to uncover boxes containing an unknown, coarsely shredded material. There were no markings or identifying documentation buried with the material to give an indication of what it could be. The only thing that was apparent was that whatever this material was, there was a lot of it.

Unknown Material?

Once excavated, the bury site of the containers holding the unknown substance was approximately 100 foot by 100 foot by 10 foot deep. The bury site was also right in the middle of the proposed lagoon footprint.

This situation posed multiple problems for construction of the lagoon. Loss of suitable material and delay in construction due to the discovery were both factors that were clearly going to have adverse effects on the project going forward. However, the main concern was the nature of the material and how to handle it properly. Obviously, we feared the material could be hazardous. The possible ramifications of uncovering any hazardous material on a project are not positive, especially considering the quantity that was unearthed. Uncovering hazardous material could bring the project to a standstill, possibly induce unmanageable costs, and could effectively terminate the project.

The Decision

What do you do when a potentially project crippling issue such as this rears its ugly head? You play it safe! Obviously, all impacts of a decision should be assessed to make sure the proposed path forward is reasonable. However, no amount of delay in the project timeline or potential increase in cost to handle unforeseen circumstances ever warrants practices that are less than cautious when dealing with potentially dangerous situations. It does not pay to be short sighted in dealing with volatile issues. Yes, life would certainly be easier for everyone if the simple solution is pursued. However, the implications of decisions seen through the rear-view mirror as being poorly made can be much further reaching than just one project.

“A quick fix is never worth risking professional or moral integrity. ”

Play It Safe

So, what did playing it safe look like in this bad situation? Playing it safe meant slowing construction of the project so that the appropriate procedures can be followed, even to the point of pushing back the project completion date. Playing it safe meant spending extra time dealing with the hassle of the testing, the certifications, the approvals, etc. associated with following protocol and best practices. Playing it safe meant incurring additional costs in the form of change orders, unbillable time, and lost production to make sure that the issue is appropriately handled.

We played it safe in dealing with the unidentified material discovered. The contract for the project had to be extended and money was lost all around by all parties for the unforeseeable circumstance. When it was all said and done, the test results on the material ended up indicating that it was non-hazardous. After this determination, the project was then able to move forward and be completed.

Even though the buried material made it much more difficult and complicated, playing it safe was the right decision. One could look at the situation and see time and money wasted on a problem blown out of proportion. However, if you understand why you play it safe in situations such as this, you will look back and see a project well done.

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