B -- VEGA REFINERY ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION PROJECT

Notice Date

October 23, 2001

Contracting Office

USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

ZIP Code

22209-2131

Response Due

December 3, 2001

Point of Contact

POC -- Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009

Description

The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a two-part feasibility study on the treatment of lagoon soils and groundwater remediation at the Vega Refinery in Ploiesti, Romania. Rompetrol is the largest private company in Romania and accounts for 4% of the country's GNP. It is vertically integrated, involved in all oil activities from exploration to selling a finished product. It has ambitious goals and aims to be a regional powerhouse in Southeast Europe. However, to remain in operation, they must continually comply with local EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requirements or face hefty fines or closure. The Vega Refinery (Vega), located near Ploesti in the Prahova Valley, is the first refinery in Romania to obtain an environmental permit and perform the accompanying risk assessment analysis. Its compliance schedule is continually monitored by the local EPA. To remain in operation, Vega must rehabilitate its soil and decontaminate its groundwater from all its acidic sludge. After over 97 years of refinery operations in the region, the soil and groundwater contain high amounts of acids. Rompetrol shut down the Vega refinery in mid-1999, shortly after its privatization, to stop the processes which generate the acidic sludge. This move decreased the volume of acidic sludge by 95%, but the previous damage must still be remediated. Before work on the soil and groundwater can begin, the sludge from the lagoons must be removed. A U.S. company is currently performing the sludge removal work, which is expected to take a few months. After the sludge is removed, the soil at the bottom and on the walls of the lagoon must be decontaminated. The contamination of the nearby groundwater must also be rectified. Feasibility studies for these projects are needed now to begin the decontamination work in 2002. It is estimated that about 100,000 cubic meters of contaminated lagoon soils may need to be treated. The subsurface soils at the site have been reported to include layers of clay, which could have so far kept most of the contaminants within the facility. The groundwater contamination seems to be due to both onsite and off-site pollution sources. Before investing in these environmental projects, Rompetrol would like to assess the problem of environmental pollution at the site and its potential solutions with the help of a third party. The first part of this study will serve as the mechanism for characterizing site conditions, determining the type and extent of contamination at the site and assessing the risks to human health and the environment. The second part will be the mechanism for the identification, screening and evaluation of alternative remedial actions in the projects. The required deliverables in both parts of the feasibility study are: work plans, site characterization data, results of screening alternative treatment options, methodologies for selecting treatment technologies, and implementation plans. In addition, Part 2 of the feasibility study shall result in a Final Report and conceptual designs and bid documents for the proposed projects. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $161,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). In addition to the funds provided by TDA, the Grantee will provide $10,000 in both direct payments and in-kind services for Phase I of the project. The Grantee will also provide $59,000 in both direct payments and in-kind services for Phase II of the project. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 pm, December 3, 2001, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011025/BSOL001.HTM (W-296 SN511374)