Camas mulls contract to remove PFAS from well

The city of Camas could award a multimillion contract to a Battle Ground construction company recently accused of wage theft and other workers’ rights violations.

On Monday, Camas City Councilors will consider awarding Tapani the city’s $5.27 million contract to build a system that will treat and remove “forever chemicals” from the city’s drinking water system at Well 13.

A few blocks southeast of Camas’ Louis Bloch Park, that city drinking-water well has had ongoing issues with higher-than-normal levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of toxic, synthetic chemicals commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” that have been linked to a wide range of health problems, including cancer.

Earlier this month, Camas Utilities Manager Rob Charles said recent testing at Well 13 showed PFAS levels nearly 10 times the federal limit of 4 parts per trillion.

The city has been working on a Well 13 fix since testing in 2022 showed elevated PFAS levels.

Camas is set to be the first city in the Pacific Northwest to use an ion exchange system to remove forever chemicals from its drinking water.

Earlier this summer, the city went out to bid and received six bids ranging from $5,269,815 to $7,694,761.

Tapani had the lowest bid. The second lowest bid of $5,598,594 came from Rotschy of Vancouver.

The money for the construction project will come from revenue bonds issued by the city.

Though the city of Camas originally estimated the Well 13 treatment project’s construction cost would be around $12 million, Charles said changes at the federal level, which give cities an additional two years to mitigate PFAS in their drinking water systems, helped reduce equipment costs by about $4.5 million.

The city saved another $3 million pulling parts of the project out to purchase separately, Charles said.

The contract with Tapani will be on the Camas City Council’s consent agenda during the council’s regular Monday meeting.

Tapani lawsuit

In July, former and current employees filed a class action lawsuit against Tapani and accused the Battle Ground company of a host of employment violations, including failing to pay overtime wages, denying workers adequate break time and not allowing employees to use accrued sick leave.

If city officials approve the contract with Tapani, Charles said the city has safeguards to ensure the company is paying the wages they’ve promised.

“We do wage interviews and talk to specific employees as part of our federal projects,” Charles said. “So we could add that, and it wouldn’t be hard for our inspector to ask if they’re getting prevailing wages.”

Charles also said he is hopeful the Well 13 treat project will be finished sooner than expected.

“We have a conservative estimate of two years from our consultant,” Charles said. “But we’re going to do everything we can to see if we can speed that up.”

Kelly Moyer: 360-735-4674; [email protected]