SFWMD seeks new contractor for C-44 reservoir project to clean St. Lucie River-bound water

WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District is looking for a contractor to finish work at the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area, a project designed to store and clean water before it reaches the St. Lucie River.

The district board Thursday authorized staff to find a replacement for Blue Goose Construction, which the district fired Nov. 7, alleging the Fort Pierce company fell behind schedule on the project, slated to be completed in 2021.

Blue Goose has sued the district, alleging wrongful termination.

More: Fired C-44 STA contractor sues water district; will it delay water-cleaning project?

The district had awarded Blue Goose a $100 million contract to build the 6,300-acre stormwater treatment area — basically a massive man-made marsh to clean water — in September 2004.

There's a little over $25 million left in the contract that hasn't been paid to Blue Goose, said district chief engineer John Mitnik, and no additional money is expected to be paid to the replacement.

Blue Goose's crews were 85 percent finished when the firm was fired, CEO Greg Nelson told TCPalm.

There were cost overruns, Nelson said, because workers had to dig deep holes to find suitable material to build the levees around the marsh rather than use the soil they scraped out.

The district refused to pay for the extra work, according to Blue Goose's lawsuit.

In an email to TCPalm, district spokesman Randy Smith called Blue Goose's claims "unsubstantiated and meritless" when the lawsuit was filed in mid-November.

The district and the Army Corps of Engineers are partners in the $765 million project near Indiantown, and both have said the contractor change and lawsuit won't further postpone the already much-delayed project.

"We'll still be on track to complete the stormwater treatment area prior to completion of the reservoir by the Corps," said water district Executive Director Ernie Marks.

The C-44 project was authorized in 2000 as part of the massive Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, known as CERP. Work began in 2007 after the water district spent $173 million — and Martin County kicked in $27 million through a special 1-cent sales tax — to buy and clear 12,000 acres for the facility.

Originally, the Corps was supposed to build both the reservoir and STA, but the district stepped in to expedite construction by building the man-made marsh.

Although the C-44 Canal connects Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie River, the project is not designed to curtail Lake Okeechobee discharges.

More: Massive C-44 project will benefit St. Lucie River

Another project, the EAA reservoir to be built south of Lake O, is designed to cut discharges. Preliminary site preparation work on the Everglades Agricultural Area Storage Reservoir began there in mid-November, and the district started a $7 million project to move rock for the reservoir walls to the area Monday.

More: Work begins on reservoir to cut Lake Okeechobee discharges