An independent report identified the cause of a January outage at the City of Richmond’s water treatment plant that left residents without running water for days, and found ongoing issues in need of solutions.

The preliminary report focused on the outage, released last week by engineering firm HNTB, supported conclusions made by City officials about the crisis. It pointed to the outage, triggered by a winter storm, as the start of a sequence of power failures that led to flooding in the plant’s two basements and a disruption in water service across the region.

The report was issued as Richmond works to resolve plant issues amid winter storms and other extreme weather, with efforts now overseen by Scott Morris, interim director of the Department of Public Utilities. 

“We’ve invested millions of dollars in making sure that we can build a more resilient system, and we’ve been successful,” Mayor Danny Avula said during a Friday press conference with Morris.

HNTB also found, after interviewing plant staff, a lack of written or established training and standard operating procedures, including emergency manuals. Some of the few available plant documents are over 10 years old, potentially outdated and difficult to locate.

Understaffing also has been a recurring issue.

“While on-the-job training is irreplaceable, written training manuals and job descriptions that are updated regularly are critical to ensure every staff member has access to the same information and critical plant knowledge is not lost as staff retire or move on,” the report reads.

Avula and Morris stated that efforts are ongoing to update and put in place the required procedures.

“I can guarantee you that the standard operating procedure for routine operations, they’re all going to be incorporated going forward,” Morris said.

Avula also defended Richmond’s regional communication during the crisis, despite reports highlighting communication issues that impacted responses in Henrico and Hanover counties.

It’s unclear how the city’s response to a 2022 report by the Environmental Protection Agency on the plant will factor into HNTB’s investigation. The EPA report cited the plant for violations including damaged, old equipment and outdated, unfinished emergency response plans. While Morris was skeptical, saying work to address issues raised in the past is underway, he and Avula said the final report could take a wider look at plant issues.

Former DPU Director April Bingham has not been interviewed by HNTB, according to reports, with city officials recently clarifying that she was fired from her position.

“On Jan. 15, Ms. Bingham resigned from employment at the City of Richmond,” Avula’s interim press secretary Julian Walker stated. “On Jan. 23, she rescinded her resignation. Ms. Bingham was then issued a letter of termination. As this is a personnel matter, we cannot comment further.”

HNTB’s initial report also includes immediate and long-term recommendations to prevent future outages. These recommendations involve an automatic transfer system for the plant’s backup generator, the development of written standard operating procedures and a training system and a review and improvement of staffing plans.

HNTB’s full report will be released in the coming weeks.