A year ago this month, the snow came and the temperatures dropped. That wasn't surprising, considering it was the middle of winter. But the snow kept coming, almost 19 inches from two storms just days apart.
And the temperatures plummeted, with highs that didn't top the freezing mark for a week and lows that hovered in the single digits, except for one night when it hit zero. Both the snow and the cold set records.
In the middle of it all, the water, something the public depends on to be there no matter what, stopped working to a great degree. The problem was that the cold weather had frozen pipes, and the resulting leaks were too much for the water system to handle. Put another way, the system, which provides water to Pine Bluff and surrounding areas and is operated by Liberty Utilities, could not pump water fast enough to satisfy the public's needs when so much of what it was pumping was leaking out of pipes, both above and below ground. Suddenly, it was like trying to air up a tire that had a dozen holes in it.
The problems were different in different parts of town. Some people had a little water pressure while others had none. And that, of course, was just the water that individuals needed. Big water users were quickly hamstrung by the lack of pressure. Water trucks and firetrucks had to be moved to the back door of Jefferson Regional Medical Center's boiler room to pump water into the system so the hospital could keep its buildings warm. As the problems worsened, the hospital had to stop taking patients because flushing toilets became problematic.
At the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, there were similar problems. Buildings had to be closed, and students staying in dormitories had to be taken to Little Rock and put up in hotels.
Saracen Casino Resort had to close for several days, cutting into its revenue -- and local tax dollars -- during what is one of the busiest times of the year for gambling houses.
Nursing homes, renal care facilities, restaurants, schools, banks and other businesses -- if they relied on water, they closed or had to take extraordinary measures to stay open. Many people resorted to using bottled water, which was hauled in by the tractor-trailer load and given away.
Local officials became frustrated, pointing a quick finger at Liberty and saying the utility was not prepared for the bad weather because it had not invested enough in its infrastructure. Additionally, people were frustrated because of what was perceived as Liberty not being transparent about what was going on.
"We are very concerned about this," Mayor Shirley Washington said as the water problems worsened. "We're just in trouble all the way around. It's difficult when we're not 100% sure Liberty is being totally transparent with us."
She said the water utility at first denied it had a line leak at one of its plants. And then it said a line leak at the plant had been repaired.
"So how do I know if you're telling us the truth about anything?" Washington said with exasperation, adding that she had been on the phone with the state attorney general's office and Public Service Commission officials, and that the consensus was that Liberty "didn't have a back-up emergency plan in place" and that the company "had not been forthcoming with the people who need information."
"It's just not good business," she said.
In response to the crisis, Liberty brought in additional employees from neighboring states and hired outside contractors to help it locate and repair the leaks in the system. Pine Bluff Wastewater, which handles the city's sewer and treatment system, also helped, as did other city operations.
Over the next several days, the patches to the system started paying off, with water pressure eventually rising to acceptable levels at all three of Liberty's pumps.
That would not be the end of the matter, however. The state attorney general's office and the Public Service Commission both announced that they were going to look into Liberty's operation in Pine Bluff to determine why the crisis had happened. After much testimony from Liberty officials and from state investigators, the sides reached a settlement late last year. Liberty was not fined, but it had to agree to put in place almost two dozen requirements that the state said were necessary to avoid a repeat of last winter's problems.
Those requirements include creating an emergency management plan, communicating better with the public, having a leak-detection system and repairing leaks, increasing water capacity in certain areas, replacing old and undersized water mains and having a backup power supply, to name a few, with those improvements and infrastructure upgrades taking place over the next few years.
One of the requirements is also for Liberty to report quarterly on its lost and unaccounted for water. Those reports are normally filed annually, but the volume of water Liberty loses and can't account for was far above the industry average. The figure, which reached close to a billion gallons one year, was additional evidence for some that Liberty was not investing enough in its Pine Bluff operation. The thinking was that, had the utility found and fixed leaks when they happened, the crisis would not have been as serious.
The point on which the settlement seemed to turn was the disagreement about the cause of the water collapse. Liberty, as it has always claimed, said the cause was the cold weather. Testimony from one state expert, however, was quoted in the settlement, saying that, even though the cold and snow were definitely contributing factors, Liberty "could have done things better and been better prepared, especially regarding capital improvements."
And Christina L. Baker, a senior staffer in the attorney general's office, stated in a PSC filing dated Sept. 10, that, while she agreed that the winter storm gave rise to outages in the system, she believed the root cause of those outages went much deeper into the maintenance, operation and financial health of the systems, as well as a lack of preparedness on the part of Liberty.
"Proper maintenance is crucial to how a water system is able to respond during an emergency," said Baker in her testimony.
She used as an example Liberty's statement that it did not believe its two filters being down at Plant 1 between Oct. 1, 2020, and Feb. 25, 2021, was a significant contributing factor to the low pressure during the winter storm.
"It is clear that the unavailability of a good portion of the operating capability of Plant 1 was a major factor in the inability of Liberty-Water to respond to and counteract the low-pressure outages which occurred on the systems in Pine Bluff," Baker said.
She also pointed out that the Water Aging Infrastructure Plan, prepared by McClelland 5 Consulting Engineers in September 2020, contained a detailed list of maintenance and upgrade needs to the Liberty system. The engineering company's report, Baker said, included clear findings that said that, without maintenance and upgrades, certain areas of the systems could experience problems in an emergency.
"It is incumbent on Liberty-Water to maintain its systems and equipment in a manner such that outages and emergencies can be managed in a timely and efficient manner," Baker said.
In a statement for this article, Liberty said that, on top of routine maintenance, it has made "more than $15 million in ongoing investments in the water infrastructure serving Pine Bluff and the region since purchasing the system in 2012."
Those investments include replacing aging water lines and mains, improving wells and pump stations, and replacing old manual meters with meters that allow for more cost-effective and accurate automated meter reading.
"We have several projects currently underway or completed to further harden our system in response to last February's historic winter storm," Liberty said. "These include projects at our water plants to enhance backup power and support backup generation. The pumps and filters at all three of the water plants serving Pine Bluff are fully operational, and we have adapted our maintenance schedule to avoid periods where extreme cold weather may impact our system. We've identified and repaired leaks in our system, and we're currently upgrading our Supervisory Control Data Acquisition (SCADA) monitoring system to help better detect pressure drops and identify leak locations. Many of these projects were planned or underway prior to the February 2021 winter storm."
The utilities' comment about all three of its water plants being operational highlighted another point of contention from last winter. When the cold weather hit, one of Liberty's water plants was not fully operational, as the state investigator later noted. City officials and others said at the time that if Liberty had been more prudent, that system would have been repaired long before February's problems hit, and that with a third plant fully operating, the crisis might not have been as bad.
Liberty said also that it had "bolstered Liberty's local leadership in the Pine Bluff area," by naming a new vice president of water operations who, based on the company's description of that person's duties, will apparently oversee the utility's progress in meeting the requirements of the settlement.
The question on many minds a year later is whether Liberty is any better prepared for another spate of bad weather and whether the city is in a better place this winter than last in terms of its water service. To answer those questions, The Commercial spoke with several of the people who were caught up in last winter's crisis:
Ken Johnson:
Johnson is general manager of Pine Bluff Wastewater Utility.
"My general perspective is that it's incumbent on me as the manager of Pine Bluff's Wastewater Utility and sewer system to give the public assurance that our system is intact," he said. "To make that possible, we have to take proactive measures, meaning we have to put money into our system annually. We do not want to be in a position of being reactive. So to provide good management, we have to make these investments routinely, and we do that. We have put millions of dollars into our system to give ourselves a sense of confidence."
Asked if he felt that Liberty had been operating in a similar manner, Johnson said "apparently not."
"Our board dictates that we take these proactive measures, and I agree with those measures, and that plan is proving successful," he said. "We've had a few problems, but that is to be expected. But they have been minor and not on a scale that would become catastrophic."
Johnson said his employees worked "hand in hand" with Liberty during the water crisis, and he would offer his assistance again.
"If there's anything we can do to help them, we stand committed to doing that," Johnson said.
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Win Trafford:
Trafford is a former Pine Bluff City Council member. He has continued to be outspoken about what he says are Liberty's shortcomings.
"Once it's all completed we're going to be in a better place," he said. "But I certainly have concerns about this winter and whether enough has been done to address the issues. If we have another deep freeze, what's going to happen? I'm not sure they know the answer. I don't want the local Liberty folks to feel bad about what I say. They work their tails off. It's not them. The directives come from way above them. Hopefully, it won't get cold enough for long enough to cause problems, but I do worry about February. I think it's going to get cold in February, and I hope I'm wrong.
"I have concerns about this winter and the repairs they've been able to make thus far and whether we can handle another deep freeze. What happened last February, that's just not acceptable. I also hope they are truly transparent in everything they do. People didn't know what the problems were last winter and didn't know the extent of those problems because Liberty was not forthcoming."
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Carlton Saffa:
Saffa is the chief market officer with Saracen Casino and Resort.
"The settlement is really the beginning and not the end," Saffa said. "Liberty is being made to complete a number of requirements, and it's good to know that the PSC will continue to monitor this and that Liberty will be forced to invest more in its system.
"The fact that Liberty had not invested in its system, had neglected its system, became abundantly obvious to us all last February. It's unfortunate that the community had to go through what happened last winter, but I'm also grateful for what happened in a way because it brought to light what was rotting beneath the surface. Maybe I should say rotting beneath the streets."
Saffa thanked state leaders for their help.
"Nothing would have happened without the governor, the attorney general and the Public Service Commission," he said. "One of the requirements is for Liberty to communicate better. They will be required to be more forthcoming about what is going on and do a better job communicating with their customers. That's kinda basic."
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Mayor Shirley Washington:
"I feel like we are in a better position this winter," she said. "Primarily, the No. 1 reason I feel that way is Liberty has more boots on the ground and have had throughout the year. They also will have a pressure-monitoring system throughout the city so if there is a pressure drop, it will be identified and alleviated. The company is also putting winter weather tips into their bills, and hopefully, the public is reading them. I feel a whole lot better about the conditions this winter."
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Laurence B. Alexander:
Alexander is chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
"We have prepared for severe weather events this winter, and water has been running as expected since Liberty completed its repairs," Alexander said. "The magnitude of the impact of the 2021 winter storm on our campus can't be overstated, and we welcome a discussion with the utility about its preparedness and our participation on its forthcoming customer advisory panel to ensure our campus and the city of Pine Bluff will not experience similar events this winter."
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Tony Penna:
Penna is vice president and general manager of Liberty Utilities.
"Liberty is proud to be Pine Bluff's water provider, and we will continue our dedicated efforts to improve our system and better serve the community. While we cannot predict extreme events like the February 2021 winter storm, we will continue to work with the community and our customers to maintain our system and keep water safe and service reliable. Our team looks forward to meeting the water needs of the area and supporting community efforts."
Saracen Casino was one of the casualties of last February’s water crisis, having to close for several days because of low water pressure. This photo, taken during that period, shows an empty casino. (Special to The Commercial)
