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RESOLUTION DIRECTING COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO EVALUATE AND IDENTIFY AREAS OF WASTEWATER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OPERATED BY MIAMI-DADE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT THAT ARE VULNERABLE TO FAILURES THAT CANNOT BE CURTAILED OR REDIRECTED TO OTHER PATHWAYS AND PROVIDE REPORT THAT INCLUDES RECOMMENDATIONS AND PLAN FOR DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING REDUNDANCIES IN SUCH AREAS TO PREVENT AND MINIMIZE DISCHARGES AND FOR EXPEDITING REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENT OF SUCH TRANSMISSION MAINS

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WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (�Department�) operates 301 miles of large transmission force mains ranging between 24 and 102 inches in diameter that deliver raw sewage from both cities and unincorporated areas to one of three wastewater plants for treatment and disposal; and
WHEREAS, several of these force mains are scheduled for repair or replacement in accordance with either the Consent Decree between the County and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Department of Environmental Protection or the Department�s Capital Improvement Program; and
WHEREAS, the Department is undertaking a 15-year multi-billion dollar program to upgrade its pipes, pump stations and wastewater treatment plants to ensure compliance with all wastewater permits, the Consent Decree and the Clean Water Act; and
WHEREAS, the Department operates and solely relies on one 48-inch wastewater force main that delivers raw sewage from residential and commercial properties in the cities of Sunny Isles Beach, Golden Beach, and the Eastern Shores community of North Miami Beach to the North District Wastewater Treatment plant; and
WHEREAS, on August 11, 2019, the 48-inch force main which is partially located under the Intracoastal Waterway broke near 2500 NE 163rd Street; and
WHEREAS, the Department has a pool of prequalified contractors for emergency repair work of large transmission mains; and
WHEREAS, the Department followed the procedures for the emergency repair of large transmission mains provided in the Department�s Emergency Response Plan for the repair of the 48-inch force main, and provided a scope of work, obtained bids and selected a contractor to construct a bypass within 22 hours of becoming aware of the pipe condition; and
WHEREAS, due to the location and condition of the force main, it took six days for the contractor to successfully contain the spill; and
WHEREAS, until the spill was contained, the Department was unable to redirect the flow of untreated sewage which resulted in a discharge of over one million seven hundred thousand gallons of sewage into the Oleta River and the Intracoastal Waterway; and
WHEREAS, this Board desires for the Mayor to evaluate the County�s sewer system and identify large transmission mains that have no alternative means to deliver raw sewage and provide a report with recommendations for designing and implementing redundancies in the wastewater transmission system to ensure reliable and uninterrupted operation that will also prevent and minimize discharges and expedite repairs and replacement of such transmission mains,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Directs the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee to (1) identify and evaluate areas of the County�s wastewater system that are vulnerable to failures and that do not have an alternative means of transmitting raw sewage to a treatment plant in the event of a break; and (2) provide recommendations (a) to design and implement additional redundancies in the wastewater transmission system to ensure reliable and uninterrupted operation that will also prevent and minimize discharges and (b) to expedite repairs and replacement of certain transmission mains.
Section 2. Directs the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee, within 180 days of the effective date of this Resolution, to provide a report of the findings and recommendations of the study required herein. The Report shall be placed on the agenda of the Board as required by Miami-Dade Ordinance 14-65.