Below are responses to allegations involving PERC Water in the Seagull Sentinel, based in part on factual information from the company:
Allegation: The total repayment cost for the Santa Paula facility is $170 million—$20 million more than the comparable cost from a different firm.
—Response: The final staff report by the City of Santa Paula showed PERC Water's final net present value cost of the project is $125.5 million — $24 million less than the competing firm's cost of $149.5 million.
Allegation: A significant driving factor in the Santa Paula decision to hire PERC was apparently the fact that they were running short of time to complete the construction of the facility before fines would be imposed and the PERC offer had a much shorter construction timeline.
—Response: Yes, this was an advantage of PERC Water's solution, which also includes certainty of cost, schedule and water quality.
Allegation: It is worth noting that while PERC has made contractual promises far into the future, it operates in Santa Paula as an "LLC"—a Limited Liability Company.
—Response: It is also worth noting that Santa Paula LLC is predominantly owned by a $7 billion dollar fund.
Allegation: The set of facts in Morro Bay is also eerily similar to a scenario that played out in the City of Fillmore, California, a couple years ago. A local group of "concerned citizens" made claims about PERC's desirability and cost. And PERC eventually (one year AFTER PERC dropped out of the official bid opensing and the contract award to a different firm) made an abbreviated bid to build a faciality for $27 million—$20 million less than the already accepted bid.
—Response: PERC Water did not submit a formal proposal to the City of Fillmore for the facility. Please see the letter sent to Bert Rapp, Fillmore Public Works Director, on July 23, 2007 for specific details of the correspondence between the City and PERC Water.
Allegation: Needless to say, the city of Fillmore balked at the lack of specifics in the late bid—noting the many issues not specifically addressed in the bid and so the bid remained with the company that originally won the actual bid award.
—Response: In fact, PERC Water chose not to bid on the Fillmore WRF (water reclamation facility).
Allegation: Of the tardy offer by PERC it (city of Fillmore) said: "If this is true, PERC should have stayed in the bidding process and won the contract."
—Response: Again, PERC Water chose not to bid on the Fillmore WRF.
Allegation: As for PERC's relatively short history in the wastewater treatment business—in 2003 it built a plant in Arizona known as the Palm Valley Water Reclamation Facility (PVWRF). Within four years it was shown that the faciliity did not work as needed after two "spill events" demonstrated a lack of needed redundancy. It cost an additional $7 million to bring the facility up to standards.
—Response: PERC Water operated the Palm Valley WRF without any issues for two years after construction completion and was given a letter of satisfaction from the utility's president on Aug. 29, 2007, five years after completion.
Allegation: The State of Arizona rate-approving authority had this to say about sticking rate payers with the bill: "there is something inherently wrong with the design and/or construction of a plant that cost $14.9 million dollars to build and has to be repaired or replaced four years later at the cost of seven million dollars. Utilities have an obligation to design and build a plant that meets acceptable levels of reliability. It is inherently unfair to saddle the ratepayers with the excessive and duplicative costs that result when utilities fail in that obligation."
—Response: See previous response.
Some of PERC Water's Industry Awards and Accolades
Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) Business Achievement Award - Sustainability & Resource Protection 2009
The EBJ selected PERC Water as a 2009 Sustainability and Resource Protection Award recipient as a result of our efforts to deploy "energy-saving technology" at the Santa Paula Water Recycling Facility. They stated our innovative lighting, membrane scouring and aertion, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system designs will save up to 15% in wastewater treatment power consumption costs while maintaining quality and efficiency.
Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) - Best Project - Water Award 2009
Our Special Planning Areas (SPA) 3 facility in Surprise, Arizona, was honored with the "Best Project-Water" Regional Award from the Western Pacific Region's Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) in honor of it exemplifying "the principles of interdisciplinary teamwork, innovation and problem solving that characterize design-build delivery." PERC Water's utilization of the design-build-operate delivery approach created a fast-track infrastructure solution for the city of Surprise, one of Arizona's fastest growing cities.
Global Water Intelligence - Water Deal of the Year 2008
PERC Water was presented the Global Water Awards' 2009 "Water Deal of the Year" Award of Distinction for our utilization of public-private partnerships in our contract to design, build, operate and finance the Santa Paula Water Recycling Facility. Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States and Nobel laureate, presented the award at a banquet in Zurich, Switzerland, hosted by Global Water Intelligence (GWI), one of the premier international news magazines for professionals in the water sector. The Water Deal of the Year award recognizes deals that have made the biggest contribution to the advancement of public-private partnerships in the international water sector in 2008. GWI stated the decision made by the city of Santa Paula to use private sector funding demonstrates a "bold new direction in the financing of US water infrastructure" and described the deal as a "ground-breaking transaction which can be emulated across the United States."
DBIA - Best Project 2008
Our Mountain House facility near Tracy, CA, received the "Best Project - Developer Design-Build" award in 2008 from DBIA. This facility was selected as result of its "unique design whereby all treatment of wastewater occur in below-ground tanks that are covered with 14,000 square feet of operations building constructed above the tanks."
Global Water Intelligence (GWII)- Water/Wastewater Project of the Year 2006
Our Mountain House facility was also the recipient of the "Highly Commended Award" from Global Water Intelligence's "Water/Wastewater Project of the Year" in 2006 as part of the top four treatment facilities in the world. GWI called the facility "clever because it offers nearly six times the capacity of the original plant using just one tenth of the land," adding that "...One day all wastewater treatment plants will be built with this degree of concern for the environment." It was commended as one of the first chemical-free treatment facilities in the United States.
Valley Forward Association - Environmental Excellence Awards 2003
Our Sundance facility in Buckeye, Arizona, was the recipient of an "Award of Merit" from the Valley Forward Association for Environmental Technologies due to its ability to produce AZ Class A+ effluent without chemical additives.
Valley Forward Association - Environmental Excellence Awards 2002
Our Palm Valley facility in Goodyear, Arizona, was honored by Valley Forward Association in 2002 with the "Environmental Excellence Award" for its outstanding contribution to its physical environment. The facility was praised for its "high quality, usable effluent," considered a "rare and precious resource to all of Arizona," and for its innovative technology which creates "no offsite odor" and "the smallest footprint in the industry," making "it possible to locate the facility essentially in the center of (the) community."
