PPH 46- Another Boil Water Advisory!

Hosts Logan Burke and Sophie Zaken discuss city council's special meeting on Sewerage & Water Board's November 17, 2018 boil water advisory and Entergy New Orleans responsibility to the city.

City Council Special Committee meeting: http://cityofno.g  ranicus.com/player/clip/3161?view_id=42&meta_id=430284

Agenda

Boil Water Advisories within the last several months

Ghassan Korban, the Executive Director of the S&WB, and Richard Rainey presented the attached presentation to the Committees on behalf of Sewerage and Water Board.  Tim Kragen, Melonie Stewart, Ted Matela, Brian Guillot, and Chuck Bourgeois presented the attached presentation to the Committees on behalf of Entergy. The general timeline and reasoning for the November 17, 2018 boil water advisory were presented by both agencies.  The following provides an overview:

• At approximately 12:14 a.m. a vehicle crashed into a residential utility pole on Carrolton Avenue.
• This accident did not immediately cause a power outage – power was terminated by Entergy four hours later - at approximately 4:18 a.m.
• When Entergy shut-off power to repair the down pole, S&WB’s Panola Station’s pump no. 2 lost power.
• S&WB became aware of the situation when pump no. 2 lost power.
• Entergy did not contact S&WB until after power was shut-off.  Entergy provided that although prompt notification is critical, safety is priority.
• The loss of power exacerbated existing conditions at S&WB facilities, mainly that:
  1. Turbine 6, per manufacturer specifications, cannot operate if the temperature is below 45 degrees, which was the case on 11/17/18;
     • The Executive Director of S&WB provided that to update Turbine 6 so it can function 365 days a year (regardless of temperature) will cost approximately $1,000,000.
     • Turbine 6 assists with both water and drainage.    
  2. Pump A is down and not operational (and currently, remains not operational).  Upon inquiry, no estimated date for “fixing” Pump A was provided to the Committees.    
• Stemming from the power outage, S&WB lost 300,000 gallons of water from the water tower, and experienced a loss of pressure, which resulted in the boil water advisory.
• S&WB tried to internally re-route power to pump no. 2, but was unsuccessful.  While attempting the re-route, another pump at the Claiborne station shut-down.  The Executive Director provided that two higher level employees that were at the station “opted not to be engaged” in fixing the problems, worsening conditions.
• Power was ultimately restored, with the pole being fixed, at 10:37 a.m.
• Both Entergy and S&WB provided that communication was lacking with the 11/17/18 incident and that better communication will occur in the future.
• At the conclusion of the presentations, Committees membership summarized that the situation was caused by:
  1. Pump issues;
  2. Power issues;
  3. Personnel issues; and
  4. Lack of communication.
• The Committees stressed that when any emergency situation that impacts Entergy and S&WB occurs, that communication is imperative and must be facilitated in order to avoid a similar, future incident.     

S&WB Presentation
Entergy Presentation

​
​Air Date: December 4th, 2018