On Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 5:15 p.m. the Grambling City Council held a Special Called Meeting to discuss the water flow emergency situation resulting from the failure of Well #5 which has a history of failing repeatedly.
Well #5 failed unexpectedly while Well #6 was being upgraded and was about to come online. Well #5 is reported to have failed 6 times now.
At the Meeting, representatives from one of Grambling’s major water customers Pabco Insulation expressed their disappointments and concerns about the problem, and let it be known that their operations where 125 employees work were “dead” unless water pressure could be restored.
They also said Pabco would be “red-flagged” by their insurance carrier if an inspection were to take place as of that day (Thursday May 13) because inadequate water pressure would prevent them from putting out a fire if it were to occur, and the situation was totally unacceptable to them.
Grambling Councilmember Rev. Roosevelt Bryant as well as other Councilmembers expressed total embarrassment about the situation, apologized to Grambling’s citizens and businesses for it and pledged immediate action.
The Meeting was emotional and heated: some felt they were being mistreated; as if the situation was not the actual emergency that it was and that those responsible for getting the water turned back on were dragging their feet.
Dean Dick Engineering was under the gun by several citizens to provide answers as to why this particular pump continues to vibrate abnormally and fail repeatedly. It was speculated by some that the problem existed with the way the water well pump was installed or manufactured; the actual cause remains unknown.
The low water pressure situation in Grambling went on for about a week in some areas as it was reported that a certain subcontractor of Dean Dick Engineering by the name of Innovative Wells failed to provide an electrician to expedite repairs.
Grambling State University Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration Leon Sander attended the Meeting on behalf of GSU President Frank Pogue to pledge total cooperation in every way to ensure water would continue flowing to the City of Grambling according to their capacity and abilities in such a state of emergency, and Grambling citizens present applauded loudly. Grambling Mayor Martha Andrus had requested help from the university earlier to provide water for the city.
Even though Grambling’s Well #5 failed, on Friday morning May 14th Mayor Andrus said that the State of Louisiana’s Ruston Development Center, Grambling State University and the City of Ruston through Mt. Olive all made much appreciated joint cooperative efforts to make sure water continues to flow with adequate pressure.
Andrus also reports that proper pressure has been fully restored to Pabco as well as all other businesses and citizens throughout Grambling, and that no fire threats due to inadequate pressure currently exist.
UPDATE – May 19, 2010:
Andrus also reports that Well #4 is operational but not working to full capacity yet. As of yesterday (May 18) Well #6 went online at 4:00 p.m. after the chorinaters were installed and it passed the Louisiana state health inspection.
Well #5 is still down as the well contractors, Entergy, Dean Dick Engineering and Grambling staff are arranging to meet in order to determine the cause for repeated failures.
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