Thread by @SundanceConstr1

@MarcMillerVM @BowhunterJonny @sunlorrie As I see the constant chatter about progress with FN infrastructure, I can no longer sit back and let this continue without a concise, and detailed explanation of what we see in regard to both FN Infrastructure, and other infrastructure/1

We have a serious problem with the construction of water treatment plants, sewage treatment and the distribution of both.

For the life of me, I cannot wrap my head around why we cannot fix this. The Lib government says they have a plan..... /2

There is no way that anyone in Ottawa has a workable plan - and that is because they either do not understand the scope of the problem, or that they are "delaying, and distracting" in regard to a solution 3/

I have done so many threads on how the projects are procured via ISC (INAC) but I can see that even that is not enough to accurately reflect what happens on the ground once a project starts. People ask me why projects fail - here it is folks, a big part of it. 4/

Once Treasury allocates those funds via a contribution agreement with the FN, a design engineer is obtained and a process begins in which the high level estimates are done, and the project is actually engineered. This is also an invited low-bid situation believe it or not. 5/

Why do projects fail, go off the rails, see delays, cost overruns? The first reason is engineering, and I am going to focus on that first - because it is critical to understanding the false glee on progress in FN infrastructure spouted by Gov. 6/

You need a few key things in a project - geotechnical investigation for ground conditions, water chemistry analysis, knowledge of currents for discharge in the case of sewer and water, and a competent understanding of process mechanical, and electrical systems. 7/

All of this engineering investigation needs to be done prior to the acceptance of a design, and most definitely prior to tender for a general contractor (GC). But I have multiple projects on hand dating from 2009 to today to show it doesn't always happen. 8/

As with EVERY single project involving fluids (sewer, water, oil and gas), you need something so basic and it is not being provided to the contractor at time of tender in every case. It is called a P&I - process and instrumentation. 9/

This P&I literally tells the contractor how the guts of the system will work. It explains piping, direction, valves, instrumentation, and - this is key - how these systems TALK TO ONE ANOTHER!!!! What if I told you that some engineers DO NOT PROVIDE AT TENDER!! 10/

The other key - what we call a control narrative. This is the engineer's statement on how he would like to see mechanical systems and electrical systems to work together for complete system integration. What the fuck does a GC do when he doesn't know what it is? 11/

I will add in here an example: Marten Falls water treatment plant. I was there, as a sub. And, there was not a complete and accurate set of drawings issued to the subs that detailed all of the above. SO SIMPLE - accurate drawings. 12/

In Marten Falls, there was improper sizing of motors to the available voltage of electricity. Come on folks - this is basic stuff. No indication of all piping needed for flow, no accurate P&I, no verification during shop drawings that voltage matched mechanical motors 13/

In Marten Falls, which just declared a state of emergency on a new upgrade completed in 2019, the operator had to run the plant in manual because the SCADA from the old side, didn't communicate effectively with the new side.... 14/

Now, lets move to Manitoba. In 2016, another FN took a hit on a project that was never started off correctly. In this case, accurate geotechnical was never done. Borrow locations (for clay) were botched in design phase, ground water missed 15/

The result was a massive claim, and change order. And, it directly involved the spilling of sewage into groundwater between the school and only well site for the community water treatment plant. How far apart? Less than 100 ft each side. Well casing was also cracked 16/

Detailed water tests showed that our excavation in high ground water conditions was impacting the turbidity results on the water treatment plant. And, when I put this all in writing - the reply? It is ok, nothing to see here. 17/

Attached below - a redacted list of concerns the First Nation presented to ISC, the design engineer and the GC. They nailed it - they asked the hard questions and they got the shaft. Not the engineers and project manager on the project. How does this help a FN? 18/

In 2016 - I personally shared information regarding this project with the PMOs office, Carolyn Bennett, Environment Canada, Health Canada, MB Conservation, MB office of drinking water... the response? Nothing. BTW - I kept those comms. 19/

Another First Nation - Tataskweyak Cree Nation - similar stories. I will start with the old lagoon because it relates directly back to good engineering. In 2017, during massive flooding, the lagoon had to be spilled. This prompted the FN to ask me to assess the pumps 20/

The FN complained they kept burning out, and as a result, ISC was just building new ones 2 miles away, uphill, with not enough clay...
So, I did. It turns out, we had exposed bus bars in the outdoor panel, non weather proof, and the phases were unbalanced. 21/

Now, I am no rocket scientist by any means - I'm really just another dumb contractor playing in the mud - but even I know that unbalanced power coming into a panel tends to burn out motors pretty fast.... 22/

Same community - water treatment plant - in 2000 approx - an upgrade was done. It was supposed to take a pretty solid treatment process, and add capacity for an expanding community. But that is not what happened. Instead, the old side never got hooked up. 23/

The new side never had the above ground reservoir epoxy coated, and sealed. It has been bleeding ever since as the raw water chemically reacts with the unsealed concrete. See attached. 24/

@MarcMillerVM @BowhunterJonny @sunlorrie For this particular FN, the old treatment process was ripped out, the old side which gave redundancy in case of one side failing, has been offline for TWO DECADES!!!! The new side has no VFD's to manage backwash flow. 25/

In addition - because of only adding chlorination, and no UV - the THMs have consistently exceeded safe levels from 2014 to today. Why no concern? Oh, I remember - in that particular meeting in July 2017 - we were told "the Gov takes time"...... 26/

In the above - the older carbon filtration system, and pre-treatment actually did a pretty good job at reducing THMs produced from raw source waters excessively high in methane. Why so high? Well, its in a Hydro catchment area of course.... like Kaschewan.... 27/

If ISC, the Federal Gov, and the various Provincial Governments cannot manage the actual construction process on the ground - how on earth can you tell CDNs that there is a plan. If you can't figure out how to manage a single project effectively... there is no plan. 28/

I am so tired of every single politician in Canada waving the Indigenous issues matter flag when they really don't have a clue to fix it. As Canadian taxpayers (and we all pay taxes in some form) - why aren't we forcing accountability? 29/

Hands down - we have solutions - and it is called getting competent people back into this process, forcing accountable engineering, project management and delivery. CDNs need to wake the hell up if they want this fixed. 30/End (for now)

8.1/ As an aside, most contractors prior to 2010 were providing Issued for Tender, and separate Issued for Construction drawings prior to shovels in the ground. The second dwgs provided accurate changes made via addendums to scope. Now, we often get only bid drawings.

In Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro actually had to make it a requirement that our lazy engineers start providing accurate electrical drawings, with P&I, motor sizing etc. WTF? That was 2017. No joke.

@MarcMillerVM As an aside, in TCN, I had to fight with the design engineer for 18 months to get a detailed control narrative for the lagoon blower building. We got to commissioning, and all of the questions I asked from 2011 to 2019 were ignored. I had to source it.

How many people know about the boondoggle in TCN for the lagoon project started in 2010-2011 through 2019 and the final budget? .....

OK - not done. On another FN project, take a look at what I had to send to the engineering firm, ISC, and GC: they couldn't figure out how to finish the project efficiently on a 9 year project blown right out the door. This was project was such a shit show. See attached 31/

32/ On Feb 3, 2016 I sent a 4 page letter to the PMO's office, essentially as a whistle-blower. At the same time, I sent a more detailed one to Carolyn Bennett. I was so naive, and was completely blown off. It is my intention to post those letters here, un-redacted if possible.

Attached - this is page 1 of the first letter sent. I never received a single response. I thought, like many others, that the concerns of women, Indigenous people, and the environment were of the utmost importance. I was wrong. 33/

On Page 2, I begin to really lay out some serious concerns. Some names are redacted, but you get the picture.

On Page 3, I really went into some serious issues. I detailed every step we took to help the First Nation.

And on the final page - I detail why this is so important. But my concerns were BLOWN OFF!
This was when I knew that politicians don't give two shits about Indigenous people, women in general.

@threadreaderapp can you please unroll again?

Guten Tag, the unroll you asked for: @MarcMillerVM @BowhunterJonny @sunlorrie As I see the constant… threadreaderapp.com/thread/1438901… See you soon. 🤖