Police have alleged operators at the Kingwood Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, run by Inframark, forged documents and samples to suggest they had adequately treated sewage when they had not. On Wednesday, the city said it terminated the city's contract.
Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer
Houston Chronicle
Dylan McGuinness, Staff writer
Inframark has operated a system of water plants in the suburb for years. Last month, Houston police searched one of those plants, the Kingwood Central Wastewater Plant, where investigators said they found evidence that operators had forged samples and other documents to suggest they adequately had treated sewage when they had not.
Some of that sewage was released into Bens Branch, a tributary of Lake Houston, one of the city's largest sources of drinking water. The drinking water is treated at separate plants before it reaches customers, and city officials have said the episode did not threaten the drinking water system.
The city said it is terminating Inframark's five-year, $74 million contract effective March 31, and Public Works will take over operations. As part of that contract, Inframark operated five wastewater and five drinking water plants. The company does not have any other water contracts with the city, according to Public Works.
The contract says the city can terminate with less than 30 days notice "if the director finds such termination necessary to protect public health and public safety."
"Over the past two months, it became apparent that Inframark is in breach of its contract with the city of Houston to run the Greater North East Houston Service Area system, which includes the Kingwood Central Wastewater Treatment Facility," Public Works said in a statement.
"The city has determined that it can best serve Kingwood residents by having Houston Public Works operate its water treatment facilities in Kingwood, just as Houston Public Works safely and efficiently operates water treatment facilities every day throughout the city of Houston."
Inframark spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik said in a statement that the city's decision was disappointing. The company is nearly done with an internal investigation that it says "has found no evidence of any illegal activity on the part of Inframark employees."
The company uses two subcontractors, Busby Environmental Services and Envirodyne Laboratories, Inc., to take samples and test them, respectively.
"Over the last five years, since Hurricane Harvey, we have repeatedly asked the city of Houston to address the serious deficiencies in the condition of the equipment at the Kingwood Central Wastewater Treatment Facility, and until recently the city has slow-walked every request," Sevcik said. "The fact that the city has moved to terminate us as long overdue upgrades are finally being made is both a surprise and a disappointment."
Residents had complained to the city about a stench of sewage coming from the plant in January and February. Such smells were common near the plant at certain times of the year, but the odor became unbearable early this year, several neighbors said.
Dianne Lansden, a nearby resident and one of the first to question city officials about the plant, said the switch in operators would not be a solution.
"Firing Inframark isn't going to solve the stinky air and pollution of Bens Branch that we have been experiencing," Lansden said. "The city of Houston needs to ante up and bring the water treatment plant up to 21st-century standards."
Late last year, Inframark became one of two finalists for a contract to run one of Houston's three primary drinking water plants, a facility responsible for providing water to 1 million residents.
Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin, whose District E includes Kingwood, said the episode there had "tainted" the company, depending on the result of the police investigation. Martin said Inframark has operated water plants in Kingwood since before the city annexed into the neighborhood in 1996.
"Disappointed that we had to make this decision," Martin said of the termination. "Now, we need to work on our master plan of constructing a new wastewater treatment facility and consolidating all of the Kingwood treatment plants into one state-of-the-art facility."
The Police Department's search came after Public Works employees made several visits to the plant in January and February following repeated complaints from residents about the smell. They found sludge on the property grounds, and two key components of the treatment process malfunctioning, according to the affidavit for a search warrant that police filed in court.
An investigator from Public Works took a sample of the sewage that supposedly had been treated at the plant on Feb. 1, and found it had an E.coli content of more than 24,200 per 100 ml, about 60 times the maximum amount allowed by state regulations. The devise used to take samples at the plant was frozen and could not be used.
Nonetheless, the plant's operators later submitted sample results for the day prior that suggested the level was 135 per 100 ml.
An Inframark employee later told police there were two spills from aeration tanks at the plant, on Jan. 10 and Jan. 24. It is not clear whether police investigators believe the release was limited to those two spills, or whether they are alleging the company regularly was releasing the poorly treated wastewater into the tributary.
A spokesman for Houston police said Wednesday the agency does not have an update on the investigation, which remains active.
dylan.mcguinness@houstonchronicle.com