Work is under way at a $15.4-million, stimulus funded Johnson County, Kan., wastewater treatment plant upgrade that is expected to cut greenhouse- gas emissions by 9,700 metric tons annually. While officials involved with the project say the process for obtaining the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARA) funding has gone smoothly, they add that the law’s Davis-Bacon requirement could inflate the cost of the project significantly.
The project calls for 54,400 pounds per day of additional solids—including fats, oils and greases from restaurant grease traps—to be added to the Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin anaerobic digesters in Overland Park, Kan., to assist in methane-gas production. BRB Contractors Inc., Topeka, won the $15.4-million construction contract.