Sussex EOC in hot water over geothermal system
Story Location:
Georgetown, DE 19947
United States
Millions of dollars of electronics and communications equipment – and proper functioning of Sussex County's 911 emergency center – hang in the balance because of a malfunctioning geothermal heating and air conditioning system.
After the malfunction was reported, Sussex County Council took unanimous emergency action at its June 7 meeting to release funds for a rental unit to be installed at the county’s emergency operations center. In addition, council invoked emergency procedures to allow staff to solicit bids without public notice to purchase a cooling tower at an estimated cost of $184,000. Bypassing public bid advertisement will save the county about one month in the process.
Council also requested a second opinion from an engineer to ascertain why the geothermal system is not functioning properly. The county had previously spent $9,000 to get an outside evaluation of the problem.
Steve Hudson, county director of technical engineering, said water in the closed-loop geothermal system in the four-year old EOC is not cool enough for the system to operate properly.
County employees have been monitoring the system for several months. Hudson said the normal temperature for the ground water loop system should range from 65 to 75 degrees. Water in the existing system is averaging 90 degrees with spikes to more than 95 degrees in hot weather, Hudson said.
It’s becoming increasing hard to keep the building cool due to the excessive heat generated by equipment in the facility. Critical electronics equipment, including computers and servers, need to be maintained in a moderately cool environment.
“We need to do something to keep the electronics from overheating,” Hudson said. “We keep saturating the well field with more heat.”
Mike Izzo, county engineer, said the building is always being cooled – even in the winter – because of the amount of heat generated by equipment in the EOC. “Did the engineer factor that in? Possible litigation could center on that,” he said.
Councilman Sam Wilson, R-Georgetown, used strong words during discussion of the issue, calling the problem a huge mistake. “Something is really wrong here,” he said. “I have trouble believing all of this.”
“We will follow up with the engineer who designed the system and try to recoup costs,” County Administrator David Baker said. “ Right now our concern is getting the problem fixed with the summer coming.”
According to county staff, L. Robert Kimball & Associates of Edensburg, Pa., was the engineer involved with the EOC project. A telphone cll to the company was not returned at press time.
Wilson asked if saving a month was important. “The bids are always high when it’s a rush job,” he said.
“Every day is critical,” Hudson answered. “We do the best we can monitoring the temperature system, but when we realize there is a failure it will be too late.”
Joe Thomas, director of emergency operations, said even if conditions got so bad in the facility that dispatchers were forced to work at the backup centers in Seaford or Dover, the equipment would still need to be up and running in the Georgetown facility.
Hudson said it was important to move the project along as quickly as possible because the rental unit will cost about $14,000 through the summer. A new cooling tower will cost about $184,000, Hudson said.
Hudson said the system has 24 wells drilled 600 feet deep. Another solution would be to double the size of the wells, but the cost could be more than $200,000, he said.
“Every day is critical,” Hudson answered. “We do the best we can monitoring the temperature system but when we realize there is a failure it will be too late.”
Joe Thomas, director of emergency operations, said even if conditions got so bad in the facility that dispatchers were forced to work at the backup centers in Seaford or Dover, the equipment would still need to be up and running in the Georgetown facility.
Hudson said it was important to move the project along as quickly as possible because the rental unit will cost about $14,000 through the summer. A new cooling tower will cost about $184,000, Hudson said.
Hudson said the system has 24 wells drilled 600 feet deep. Another solution would be to double the size of the wells, but the cost could be more than $200,000, he said.
