Hyperion to replace flaring system in 2021 spill recovery effort

A new flaring system at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant should help the facility move further along the path to fixing issues that led to a catastrophic sewage spill there two years ago.

But it’ll take nearly a decade to be put in place — and cost at least $100 million.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District held recently approved a modified order of abatement for Hyperion that includes an updated implementation plan for the plant's infrastructure and equipment improvements — and requires it to replace all of the facility's flares.

El Segundo residents surrounding the plant say that hydrogen sulfide and potential other odors from the July 2021 spill continue to plague them. When the incident happened, Hyperion's headworks facility became overwhelmed and the plant started to flood; plant officials chose to release 17-million gallons of untreated sewage into the ocean instead of risking the sludge backing up into people's homes and onto surrounding streets — and potentially having the entire facility go offline.

But more than 50% of the plant flooded that day anyway, causing equipment failure and a massive cleanup effort while sewers kept sending waste to Hyperion.

The flares, meanwhile, burn off and release excess gases that could otherwise cause safety and environmental problems at sites like Hyperion when an operating system shuts down.

AQMD initially issued the order of abatement in September, demanding odor-mitigating fixes at the plant, and added some conditions to the list in January.

Now, "flare replacement is the best path forward to compliance," said Erika Chavez, deputy district counsel for AQMD. "These flares have been tested multiple times since March 2022 and have still been out of compliance, so there's no reason to hold off at this point."

During the last year, Hyperion has completed the order's original conditions, Chavez said, including source testing — or analyzing the flares’ emissions — obtaining flare evaluation reports and submitting an initial implementation plan for its facility fixes.

Recent source tests, however, continue to show that several flares are still exceeding their permitted limits for releasing NOx, or harmful air pollutants, she added. That led to the current modified order.

The six new flares will be ultra-low nitrogen oxide, which emit about half the amount of smog compared to the old, low NOx ones, said Thomas Chapman, a principal engineer with consulting firm Brown And Caldwell. Chapman worked with Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment, the agency that runs Hyperion, to develop the revised implementation plan.

The initial plan, Chapman said, was to repair the existing flares, which were installed in the 1980s, but LASAN ultimately decided to replace them completely.

Swapping them out "will give Hyperion the opportunity to bring all their flares up to standard," meeting the lower NOx emission requirements, Chapman said.

The current ones can still operate, but are old and need repairs, he added. And even with repairs, there's no guarantee the flares will meet emission requirements.

But flare system replacement is a lengthy and expensive process, Chapman said.

The project will take at least eight years, he added, with design development, making and shipping the equipment and finally installing it. He estimates the work will cost about $160 million, but it could range from $100 million to $200 million.

Similar projects he's worked on of this size have taken about that long, Chapman said. An ultra-low NOx project in Orange County, for example, took four years to design and will take five years to construct.

Potential delays in contractor negotiations and other components of the Hyperion project could push it up to 12 years at the longest, Chapman said, but LASAN staffers will periodically review progress to try to accelerate the timeline and reduce costs.

State and L.A. County legislators, meanwhile, sent a letter to LASAN last week urging the agency to expedite remedying the spill's lingering effects on the community.

"It is of utmost importance that LASAN work swiftly to meet the remaining requirements, (including) replacement of primary clarifier batteries and their covers, which have been identified as the root of the facility's odor issue," reads the letter, which was signed by state Sen. Ben Allen, Rep. Ted Lieu, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi and L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell. "We urge you to explore ways to further expedite these projects."

The officials also asked in the letter that LASAN reconsider the LA County Department of Public Health's suggestions that Hyperion monitor typical sewage-related gases in conjunction with the currently monitored hydrogen sulfide.

LASAN officials have said previously that they look forward to completing all the improvements and rebuilding trust with El Segundo.

A lawsuit that El Segundo announced in September that it planned to file against LASAN, meanwhile, is currently on hold, city spokesperson Diane Chabaan said.

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