Energy, Utilities & Water  October 28, 2022

Court action by Milliken alleges selenium-treatment failures

MILLIKEN — The town of Milliken is suing a Golden-based contractor and two Pennsylvania-based companies, alleging that a selenium-treatment system designed and built for the town’s reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant failed on multiple occasions.

The suit was filed Oct. 11 in Weld County District Court against Stanek Constructors Inc., based in Golden, as well as Frontier Water Systems LLC and Evoqua Water Technologies Corp., both based in Pittsburgh.

According to the court filing, the town contracted with Stanek on Sept. 12, 2018, to build the treatment system, and Stanek in turn hired Frontier, which manufactured and sold a SeHAWK modular bioreactor for installation at the water plant.

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According to the Stanek website, the contract was for $3.384 million and the installation included an odor-control system and scrubbers, nutrient and backwash tanks, media filtration, biofeed and production pumps, a hydrogen-peroxide system, blowers, air compressors, pumps, a metal building with a waste sump, and electrical and instrumentation equipment.

The project also called for placement of 200 cubic yards of concrete, 500 linear feet of underground pipe and about 1,100 linear feet of interior process pipe,

The town contends that the selenium-treatment system failed on three occasions. The first two sets of repairs also failed, it said, and “the third and final set of repairs has not yet been proven to be successful.”

As a result of what the complaint calls a breach of contract, the complaint says, “the town has been injured and is entitled to recover monetary damages to compensate for such injuries, including, without limitation, damages resulting from being forced to obtain alternative sources of water and damages resulting from lost staff time in coordinating and facilitating repairs.”

According to the complaint, Evoqua has become responsible for Frontier’s obligations.

The town is asking the court to decide what indemnification Stanek owes to the town.

Calls to Stanek officials and to the town’s attorney, Matthew Gould of Fort Collins-based Bell, Gould, Linder & Scott PC, had not been returned in time for BizWest’s deadline.

MILLIKEN — The town of Milliken is suing a Golden-based contractor and two Pennsylvania-based companies, alleging that a selenium-treatment system designed and built for the town’s reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant failed on multiple occasions.

The suit was filed Oct. 11 in Weld County District Court against Stanek Constructors Inc., based in Golden, as well as Frontier Water Systems LLC and Evoqua Water Technologies Corp., both based in Pittsburgh.

According to the court filing, the town contracted with Stanek on Sept. 12, 2018, to build the treatment system, and Stanek in turn hired Frontier, which manufactured and sold a SeHAWK modular bioreactor for installation…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
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