SPECIAL NOTICE
M -- PLANNED CONTRACT MODIFICATION - INDIANA HARBOR & CANAL CDF, EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA, FACILITY OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT SERVICES (INCLUDES DREDGING ACTIVITIES) - W912P6-11-D-0004, Modification P00020
- Notice Date
- 12/19/2014
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 561210
— Facilities Support Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, USACE District, Chicago, 231 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1500, Chicago, Illinois, 60604, United States
- ZIP Code
- 60604
- Solicitation Number
- W912P6-11-D-0004-P00020
- Point of Contact
- Regina G. Blair, Phone: 312-846-5371
- E-Mail Address
-
regina.g.blair@usace.army.mil
(regina.g.blair@usace.army.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- A provision of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) of 1984, authorizes non competitive contracts to be performed by only one or a limited number of sources via 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(1); Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 6.302-1(a) (2) (iii) (A) and (B). As such, for the purposes described hereunder and in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, coupled with the Authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), the Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District intends to execute, without competition, a bilateral Contract Modification under Contract W912P6-11-D-0004 (sole source, Modification P00020). The incumbent Contractor is KOKOSING CONSTRUCTION COMPANY/O'BRIEN & GERE, JV; the address for this organization is 17531 Waterford Road, Fredericktown, Ohio 43019-9561, with Company Cage Code No. "6GS86." The resulting modification will implement four new contract line items (CLINS), consisting of the following work: 1) construction of a discharge line from the Indiana Harbor and Canal Confined Disposal Facility (IHC CDF) to the East Chicago Sanitary District (ECSD) sanitary sewer, 2) optional construction of a pretreatment plant, 3) optional operation of a pretreatment plant, and 4) discharging the IHC CDF water to the ECSD. The approximate quantity to be ordered against the third and fourth CLINs is up to 150,000,000 gallons of water (relative to the current option period) and up to 100,000,000 gallons of water for the next option period, if exercised. The proposed work involves the management and treatment of a mixed water stream that includes dredge water, contaminated groundwater from a confined dredged material disposal facility (CDF), and precipitation. The incumbent Contractor, KOKOSING CONSTRUCTION COMPANY/O'BRIEN & GERE, JV would be required to coordinate water management and dredging activities prior to water treatment and discharge. The original plan for the CDF water (combination of groundwater, precipitation, and dredge water) was to have the water treated at an onsite treatment plant prior to discharge to the Lake George Branch of the IHC. The CDF cells have large capacity to hold sediment and water, and it was not anticipated that water treatment would be needed the first few years of dredging, and therefore, there currently is no treatment plant at the IHC site and no discharge from the site. The original contract did include CLINs for treating and discharging water, which are similar to what is being proposed in the new modification. Higher than normal precipitation over the 2013/2014 winter season and the addition of a larger than anticipated volume of water during the first dredging event have resulted in the CDF cells approaching their capacity more quickly than anticipated. It is anticipated that water treatment and offsite water disposal will be needed prior to dredging in 2015. This work is within the general scope of the Contract as it provides for the management and offsite disposal of water. However, the management and offsite disposal of water addresses the same intent, but in a smaller scale manner than the original CLINs. Water samples were collected from the two CDF cells after dredging ended in 2013. The water quality of the CDF pond water has been improving as it is being stored in the CDF; the water sampling results indicating that the concentration of most of the NPDES regulated constituents are meeting the existing project NPDES discharge permit limits. Because the pond water quality is significantly better than originally anticipated, and because water discharge is needed sooner than expected, the CDF pond water will be discharged to the East Chicago Sanitary District (ECSD). To facilitate discharging to the ECSD, a withdrawal/discharge line would be constructed from the CDF decant structures to the ECSD discharge location. A discharge line from the CDF would be needed regardless of whether the water is pumped to the ECSD discharge location or to a treatment plant on site. The settled pond water currently meets all ECSD pretreatment discharge limits and therefore, no pretreatment is anticipated. A pretreatment plant will be ordered only if it is demonstrated that the treatment is necessary. The treatment plant is included as an option in the modification. The USACE's pre-award estimate of the water volume accumulated in the CDF cells underestimated the volume of water that would be introduced to the site to facilitate sediment disposal, as well as precipitation over the first few years of dredging. Therefore, capacity of the CDF is approached more quickly than anticipated and there is a critical need to remove water from the CDF to create capacity to receive additional dredged material. Water must be managed and discharged from the CDF prior to the start of any additional dredging, to prevent water levels from reaching a critical stage. In addition, pre-award estimate of the CDF pond water quality indicate that onsite water treatment would be required prior to discharge. However, natural processes (settling, degradation, volatilization) that are occurring in the CDF ponds are improving water quality to a significant extent that was not previously anticipated. Sampling of the CDF pond water during the non-dredging season has indicated that the water quality is now significantly better than expected and can be discharged to the ECSD without pretreatment. It could not be anticipated that the water would meet all of ECSD pretreatment criteria prior to actual observation of the conditions in the CDF ponds. It is only with the collection and analysis of water quality data over the last two years that the Government was informed that the water can now be discharged in compliance with appropriate regulations without treatment. Because the water management must be aligned with the dredging operation to ensure that settled water is discharged and that sufficient water remains in the appropriate cell for a concurrent dredging operation, it is most logical that the dredging contractor who already coordinates water management between the cells adds the water discharge portion to the existing contract. This arrangement would allow the current water management activities to continue unobstructed, would prevent conflicts between the dredging contractor and a separate water management/treatment contractor, and would allow for the efficient discharge of water in a timely fashion to prevent delays to the dredging operation. Given the timeliness of the water discharge need and the potential for conflict if two contractors are separately handling and/or using water at the site, the best solution is to connect to the ECSD sewer system and discharge water to ECSD for treatment. The incumbent Contractor, Kokosing O'Brien & Gere, JV is currently dredging, disposing, and managing water handling at the site. The management of water which includes treatment and offsite disposal is included in the Basic Contract with the JV. The modified approach for water management which includes providing a connection to the ECSD, optional treatment, and discharging the CDF water offsite is within scope and would be most effectively accomplished by the JV. The intent and scope of services needed to pretreat and discharge water is similar to the original intent of those portions of the contract. The water handling and discharge cannot be reasonably separated from the rest of the work to be performed by the Contractor due to the need for water discharge concurrent with water use and the potential for conflict if two parties are simultaneously handling water at the site. The Contractor's overall dredging activities include material dredging, transport and disposal of dredged material to CDF. Disposal of the dredged material in the CDF is dependent on recirculating and managing the water in the CDF, since the operation must be done hydraulically based on agreement with USEPA and IDEM. The Contractor using the water for hydraulic off-loading must be able to control the amount and location of water available for dredging. At the same time, the Contractor treating water must be able to control the amount and location of settled water available for treatment. The key knowledge factor is the balance of water needed for both operations to occur simultaneously; it is not likely that two separate parties can maintain the close (hourly and daily coordination) needed to manage both streams of water at the same time. The Contractor's facility operation activities already include water management activities such as maintaining the groundwater extraction system which discharges into the CDF and tracking the pond levels, well levels, and discharge rates. Water management also includes the movement of water between the cells and offsite disposal (as needed) to ensure that sufficient water is present to hydraulically discharge sediment, to maintain a ponded CDF, and to minimize infiltration. Hiring a second contractor to perform an overlapping water management task may prevent the first contractor from successfully completing contracted activities. Water management is an important task that is integral to the contractor's other responsibilities since the dredging operation and facility maintenance activities both depend on and influence the amount of water in the CDF, and the water management task is not separable from other activities on site. Because these activities are integral to and are dependent on each other, they must be closely managed and expeditiously implemented to avoid any unnecessary delays or inefficiencies that would directly result in increased cost of performance. The dredging and water management activities are not separable since the dredging depends on the amount of water and also influences the amount of water (because water is added as part of the dredged material). If another source was sought to satisfy the Government's requirement to perform the water disposal, the separate water disposal would interfere with the dredging operation water management and use and would prevent the dredging contractor from efficiently conducting the dredging operation. Subsequently, using the existing Contractor as the "only responsible source" to accomplish the required water management prior to 2015 dredging is in the best interest of the Government and the most financially responsible means of performing the work. The primary purpose of this notice is to publicize this contract action prior to contract modification, as mandated in FAR Subpart 5.2 (Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions) and FAR Subpart 6.3 (Other Than Full and Open Competition). The contract type will remain Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) and the period of performance will not be extended. This notice is not a formal solicitation or request for proposal. Point of Contact(s): Regina G. Blair, Contracting Officer, 312-846-5371 Major Warren, Contract Specialist, 312-846-5494/ Email: christine.warren@usace.army.mil
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/COE/DACA23/W912P6-11-D-0004-P00020/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Indiana Harbor Canal, Confined Disposal Facility, East Chicago, Indiana, United States
- Record
- SN03601218-W 20141221/141219234657-7db2f30b6e272bd235bfa50b9935d7cc (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |