Pasco, Wash., Public Works Department has had a busy couple of years with projects in water, wastewater and streets, and it has received national and state recognition for a couple of its projects.

Director of Public Works Maria Serra shared the projects the department has been working on. Serra took over as director last May but was interim director since December 2023. Prior to that, she worked in the city’s engineering division as manager where she was involved with many of these public works projects over the last 11 years.

The wastewater treatment plant project was a complete upgrade of the liquid and solid systems, completed in two phases. The facility was built in the 1940s, but this wasn’t the first expansion of the facility. Phase one started the design phase in 2019, and construction began in 2021 to expand the secondary treatment of liquids and replace equipment, including two aeration basins, new primary effluent structures, blower building expansion, demolition of the trickling filters and upgrading the outfall pipe.

Serra said, “We were expanding at the same time that some of the equipment was at the end of its life cycle.”

Phase one was completed in 2023. “At the same time we were in construction for phase one, we were in the design phase of phase two in 2021,” she related.

Phase two dealt with solids — thickening and de-watering of solids, UV treatment and extending the outfall pipe. Phase two construction began in 2024 and will be completed at the end of this year. All the wastewater treatment plant improvements occurred while they were still operating.

“It felt like an once-in-a-lifetime project,” she said.

Most of the funding for the $59 million project came from the Department of Ecology in several low-interest loans, some of which had forgivable loan components, which saved millions of dollars over the life of the improvements.

Another project was an innovative new elevated water tank in West Pasco. Serra said the tank holds 3 1/2 million gallons of potable water.

“It’s the biggest tank you can have elevated that stores potable water,” she said.

It works on peak demand in the summer evenings where there is a lot of use. The water is treated overnight and during the day and released during peak hours. She said the tank serves the highest-pressure zone in zone three, and when demand is not needed for zone three, it goes to the lower elevations of zone two and one. The $19 million project was partially funded with low-interest loans through the state of Washington’s public works board and local funds. The project began in 2021, and construction took place in 2022. Since the department was working on the water treatment plant, the new elevated tank wasn’t put into service until this year, making this the first summer it will be used.

This was also the city’s first progressive, design, build project it has done. It was approved by the state, and the city sent out requests for qualifications. A design-construction team was selected based on scoring, not a low bid selection.

“Cost is a component, but not the only one,” she explained.

She said it’s progressive because it takes one step at a time, but you don’t have to have all the design work for the entire project completed before construction starts. Serra stated this method avoids having change orders later.

“It helps save time and money, and that was true in our project,” she said. “I had a little bit of reservations about it, but it was a good process overall.”

She said it required approval from a state board that allows alternative procurement methods.

Process water reuse facility

Serra said the process water reuse facility is a unique facility that serves industrial food processing plants. Pasco has a lot of food processing plants, which process potatoes, apples, peppers, corn, peas — all sorts of vegetables. These plants have wastewater but it’s not sewer; it’s water leftover from washing, cooking or blanching the vegetables.

“They have a big volume effluent — we call it industrial wastewater or industrial water,” she said.

About 30 years ago in the mid-1990s, Pasco needed economic development so it constructed the process water reuse facility so the food processing plants didn’t have to deal with the industrial water — they could just send it to the city. Pasco is now serving seven food processing plants. As a hub for agricultural products and with the growth of volume and number of food processing plants, Pasco saw a need to expand the 30-year-old facility.

She said the city generally takes the wastewater and pre-treats it so it’s cleaner. The water is land-applied to 16 fields owned by the city and leased to farmers for crops. By the time the water reaches the groundwater, it’s clean, according to Serra.

Once the need to improve the facility was identified, the city partnered with a private party — Burnham. Burnham performs biological treatment and generates renewable natural gas (RNG) and algae, turning byproducts of the treatment process into resources that can be sold. It built digesters to treat the wastewater to remove BOD and the next step is to grow algae. They have algae belts that move in and out of the wastewater in large greenhouses to take some of the nitrogen out of the water. The city contracted the project in 2022 and just put it in operation the end of 2024.

Serra shared that because of the innovative technology used and the attention the project has attracted, they’ve received lots of federal and state funding. Over the last decade, the PWRF has received over $80 million in external funding, “demonstrating strong support from state and federal partners who recognize the facility’s vital role in sustainable water management, industrial growth and environmental stewardship.”

“Federal support included awards from the EDA and the HAEIFAC (Hanford Area Economic Investment Fund Advisory Committee), as well as earmarked funds crucial to our progress. At the state level, the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB), public works board and the state revolving fund through the ( Department of) Ecology have been instrumental, along with direct state appropriations that have bolstered our initiatives,” Serra shared in an email, adding that local Franklin County Economic Development Funds were used, too.

She shared the Burnhams’ biological treatment process, which had a price tag of $148 million, received funding of $4.4 million from the Community Project Funding through Housing and Urban Development — sponsored by Representative Dan Newhouse — $5 million from CERB, awarded through a competitive process and $5.05 million from Washington State Direct Appropriations administered via Washington Department of Commerce, supported by a legislative recommendation and agreement.

Along with the above improvements to the PWRF, the city also increased the winter storage ponds capacity. She said Pasco can land apply the water when there are crops in the fields but in the winter when crops are not growing, it needs to store the wastewater. It added storage for an additional 330 million gallons. Previously, the city had storage ponds for 150 million gallons.

“So, we tripled our capacity,” she said.

The two projects were constructed side-by-side. The winter pond storage was a $48 million project, fully funded through the Washington State Clean Water state revolving fund, administered through the Washington State Department of Ecology.

“We are immensely grateful for the support from all of our partners, which has been vital for the success and continuation of these transformative projects,” she said.

Recognition

In addition to receiving funding, two of the above-mentioned projects also received national and state recognition awards — the municipal wastewater treatment plant and the process water reuse facility project. For the municipal wastewater treatment plant, the Wastewater Digest annually selects five projects nationally and Pasco took two of those spots last year. It was recognized based on the complexity of the project, the innovation and super tight timeline. The project was ongoing during COVID with all the restrictions, creating delays, but workers got it done in 10 months.

“It was delivered in an incredible timeline, and it was so needed,” she said.

Pasco also received state awards, including Project of the Year for 2024 from the American Public Works Association Washington Chapter and also Project of the Year from the Association of General Contractors.

“The process water reuse facility is an unusual project with cutting-edge technology that shows how you can generate value for wastewater by-products,” Serra said.

The PWRF project also received several federal and state recognitions.

Transportation projects

Pasco also had several transportation or street projects ongoing or completed in the last couple of years, including the Lewis Street Overpass Project.

“That was a historical project for the city of Pasco,” she said.

The city built a bridge crossing over the BNSF railroad crossings, one of the busiest railways in the city. The 625-foot bridge joins Second Avenue on the west to Oregon Avenue on the east and connects access to downtown. Originally, there was a tunnel — an underpass — that was built in the 1930s.

Serra said, “It outlived its useful life, and no longer served the needs. It was not ADA compliant, was too narrow for bigger vehicles and the clearance wasn’t adequate for busses or delivery trucks.”

The tunnel also had a history of segregation, dividing different parts of the population. Access to the tunnel was limited to one area for African Americans. “It had some historical cultural connotations that were not positive,” she said.

So, the tunnel was filled in at the same time the bridge was being built. The bridge has decorative railings that are consistent with other downtown improvements to create a signature look. Serra said this project was in the works for 20 years, and by the time she was in her position, the city had a solid design in place. Pasco had a very strong fundraiser for the design portion of the project and right-of-way acquisitions, and the construction was funded through state grants through Connecting Washington and the Transportation Improvement Board in the amount of $26 million for the $36 million project. The project began in 2021 and was substantially completed and opened to traffic in 2023. The Lewis Street Overpass is a vehicle, bike and pedestrian friendly bridge. There are still some punch list items to complete.

I-182 Broadmoor Boulevard project

Interstate 182 crosses Pasco and has several exits within the city limits, and the westerly exit ramp on Broadmoor Boulevard was experiencing delays in an area with a lot of residential and commercial development planned. Serra said the city evaluated the traffic flow and determined a need for improvements. The project added a new loop that leads exiting freeway traffic to a roundabout at the top, which alleviates traffic stopping. This $11 million project was funded through Tax Increment Financing, which Serra said was “a new funding mechanism allowed for in the state.”

Since the area was designated as a future development area, the city is investing dollars to make the area developable and, as property values increase, a portion comes back to the city for repayment of that investment.

“There’s no impact on exiting residents or taxpayers,” Serra said, adding the people who have driven the road improvements have been happy with them.

There are about $40 million of investments in different transportation infrastructure projects planned in that area and Serra just received confirmation that a regional aquatic facility will be located there.

“It’s helping us achieve some goals and create amenities the city needs,” she said.

Sylvester Street safety improvements

Sylvester Street extends east to west across the city, encompassing residential neighborhoods, commercial sites, schools and access to downtown and medical facilities.

“It’s a long corridor and has had a history of crashes and fatalities. It was a four-lane road with two lanes in each direction and when people had to make a left turn, it caused a lot of crashes,” she said, noting this project was funded through the Highway Safety Improvement Program.

The project cost $5 million. Pasco reconfigured the road, so it is one lane in each direction with a center turn lane. It has incorporated either a bike lane on one portion or a multiuse path on another portion of the road while also adding sidewalks.

“We converted something that was unsafe into a slower speed and (made it) safer for all modes of transportation. We installed pedestrian crossings activated by a push button and flashing beacons in specific locations where we identified a high volume of pedestrian and bike crossings in residential areas and by Riverside Park.”

The project began in 2021 with fundraising and design work; construction happened in 2023-2024 and was just completed earlier this year.

“The project has had some loud opposition from neighbors,” she said. However, it has given children a safer place to walk and wait for busses and is ADA compliant, giving people with disabilities the ability to access public transportation.

“In my opinion, it’s been a very successful project, but there has been some opposition,” she admitted.

Current/future projects

Serra said Pasco has a “very ambitious six-year plan” with about 60 projects planned. She highlighted a few of those for The Municipal.

The Butterfield Water Treatment Plant is the oldest water treatment plant in operation since the 1940s and “has exceeded the anticipated time to be operational. This will be a huge investment of about $200 million to $260 million in the next 10 years.”

The project is currently in the early stages of fundraising and Pasco is applying for Department of Health low-interest loans for the first phase of improvements.

The irrigation pump stationwill provide irrigation water, so less potable water is used. Currently, Pasco relies on wells and the river for irrigation. This project will be funded entirely by local funds.

The Sylvester Street Corridor-US 395 project will update an existing bridge that currently has no space for pedestrians and bicycles. The city will add a pedestrian and bike lane connecting the east-west side. “We’re bridging the gap, as they say,” Serra said with a laugh. Pasco also plans to add a pedestrian/bike lane next to Broadmoor Boulevard.

A huge overpass is also planned for Route 76, a local network bridge over I-182, which she said will be a vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle friendly bridge.

Overcoming Challenges

“Every project has hiccups and wrinkles. The municipal wastewater treatment plant with the restrictions of COVID and an unprecedented timeline … there was a lot of unprecedented things happening but it’s important to recognize once you set the path and know what the goal is — whether that’s providing safer travel or utility goals — take the challenges as they come and collaborate with others to find solutions,” Serra said.

Serra shared a piece of advice she learned from her predecessor, who told her: “You’ll never start a project if you wait until you know everything or you have the assurance that nothing will go wrong, so when you’ve done your due diligence, it’s time to move and take the challenges as they come.”

She encouraged others to reach out to their stakeholders — funding agencies and oversight agencies — as they have the staff and resources to help municipalities troubleshoot, get an action plan or find funding for their projects.

“You’re never alone,” she said. “Public works as a whole is a big community of people who have a vocation to help and serve, so reach out to your peers, and sometimes, thinking outside the box is the only answer.”

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