A new report from the city of Richmond revealed how last month’s water boil emergency happened, and what steps could be taken to prevent another one. The “After-Action Preliminary Findings” report was released on Thursday evening with 15-pages of findings and recommendations.
It found that a main water feeder failed during the winter storm, leading to flooding in the plant basement which caused damages to critical equipment. Further, the problem was magnified as more water was rushing in faster than the diesel-powered pumps could handle, resulting in a complete outage for nearly 36 hours.
This comes after the Virginia Department of Health released its report. It requested additional information from the city.
More actions have began on a local level, including April Bingham resigning from her position as DPU Director. This led to Anthony Morris, former Director of Water for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, taking over in the interim. Henrico County officials are also beginning conversations about a regional water authority that could mitigate these kinds of crises.
Per the document, HNTB — the Virginia-based firm contracted by the city — met with 14 employees at the Richmond Department of Utilities, ranging from program managers to plant operators.
