Fairfax County will break ground this month on a major rehabilitation of its Accotink Wastewater Pump Station.
The county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services approved a $71 million construction contract on July 3 that included the first-ever Project Labor Agreement (PLA) administered by a local government in Virginia, according to a press release.
Located at 9201 Richmond Highway, the pump is the county’s largest wastewater pump station and handles sewage from more than 63 square miles of Fairfax County and Fort Belvoir. While some upgrades and repairs have been implemented in the past, this will be the first comprehensive rehab project for the facility in its 40 years of continuous operations, DPWES says.
Slated for a formal groundbreaking on Sept. 26, the project will increase the capacity of the station from 37 to 45 million gallons per day, replace approximately 6,600 feet of the existing 42-inch diameter force main on Fort Belvoir property, and upgrade the odor control system.
Construction is expected to take roughly 48 months to wrap up.
“As a County, we are investing in our community infrastructure today to improve service and prevent emergencies tomorrow,” Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said in the press release. “Over the years, you may have noticed a sewer-like smell when you drive by Tully Gate, this will eliminate that, further benefitting our residents, particularly those who frequent the Kennedy Shelter.”
Valued at nearly $71.7 million, the construction contract was awarded to Northeast Remsco and includes a PLA that the New Jersey-based company executed with the Baltimore/DC Metro Building Trades Union and its affiliates, according to DPWES.
PLAs are pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that establish employment conditions for construction projects, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Virginia General Assembly passed a law in 2020 authorizing the state government and localities to requiring PLAs for public works projects, starting May 1, 2021. Fairfax County staff proposed the Accotink pump station project as a pilot project candidate to the Board of Supervisors at a legislative committee meeting on Sept. 21, 2021.
Developed in a collaboration between organized labor, general contractors, a consultant and county agencies, the agreement attempts to ensure that all workers on the project are skilled and have standardized working conditions and benefits. It also lays out a dispute resolution process, bars labor strikes and promotes a program offering incentives to military service members and veterans.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay called the PLA agreement a “historic milestone.”
“Our Board of Supervisors has made major advancements in improving the lives of County employees through collective bargaining, expanded paid sick leave and more, and I’m thrilled to be able to extend this practice to workers who are building our critical infrastructure through the first local Project Labor Agreement in Virginia,” he said.
DPWES says this first PLA will serve as a pilot project that could set the stage for the county to make similar agreements for future capital projects.
