55A - SAN LORENZO SEWER LIFT STATION

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Mr. Robert Silverstein, Esq. 0 Review Of The Recirculated 9! And FEIR For The San Lorenzo Sewer Lift Station Project January 12, 2012 Page 14 of 18 Moreover, because the sewer to Alternative Site No. 12 and many of the other sites would not significantly interfere with construction of the pump station itself, the construction of the pipeline infrastructure and the pump station could proceed simultaneously. This would reduce the duration of construction by another four weeks. The RDEIR also concedes that Site No. 12 would also avoid any construction at all in the intersection of South Bristol Street and West Segerstrom Avenue. This significantly decreases the impact on traffic and transportation. The RDEIR again includes a long description of how difficult it will be to construct a sewer and force main along South Bristol Street but fails to note that the proposed project includes 190 feet of longitudinal sewer in South Bristol Street. AN ENVIRONMENTALLY AND ECONOMICALLY SUPERIOR PROJECT At the top of Page 2 -8, the RDEIR states as a Project objective, "[tjo provide a lift station facility in which electrical components of the facility are housed above ground so as to preclude the potential for electrical failure during peak storm events (due to flooding)." This Project objective is not met by the new design. Drawing 14 of 49 for the proposed pump station shows that the motors of the new pumps are far below ground level in the dry pit. If there is a break or leak in the discharge piping during a power outage when the sump pump is not in operation or a break or leak of a magnitude that exceeds the capacity of the sump pump, the dry pit will flood and will ruin the motors. This means the proposed pump station is no better than the existing pump station at meeting this project objective. An environmentally superior project would be to construct a submersible pump station, using the existing 8 -foot diameter wet well. Attached are three pages from the Flygt Pump Company showing a typical submersible pump station and the dimensions of a submersible pump. See Exhibits E through G. Submersible pumps have the motors directly connected to the pumps. As the name implies, the pumps are submersible; that is, they are sealed and therefore can and usually do operate underwater. The submersible pumps slide down guide rails into the wet well and then connect to the discharge piping at a base fitting. The pumps can be hoisted out of the wet well for service. Since all of the work on the pumps can be done at ground level, there is no need to enter the wet well, thus confined space safety is not an issue. 55A -163