Council and Benson Hill reach waste agreement
Aug. 23—Only a few weeks after Benson Hill's ribbon cutting, the soybean processing facility came to the Creston City Council with a proposal.
As part of its operations, the facility discharges wastewater into the city's Osage Lift Station. The waste has a high pH, above the pre-treatment limit for the city. "The reason that can be an issue is because it can be hard on the equipment like the pump station directly downstream," Libby Patton with the city's engineering firm, Veenstra and Kimm, told the council. "It can damage the metal in the pumps."
Patton said Benson Hill's goal was to install new epoxy-coated submersible pumps and check valves to replace the old ones at no cost to the city. However, a miscommunication with Electric Pump introduced an additional cost the facility is not able to fit in the budget.
"The pump station has more than just the pumps in it. There's also additional piping," Patton said. "We talked to (Electric Pump) about what all would we need to replace to handle this high pH strength. They did not think we needed different pipe to handle high pH strength waste."
After Benson Hill's approval, Patton said they were informed by Electric Pump the quote didn't include the cost to install the pumps. It did include the check valve installation. In order to install the pumps, the company would do all new piping and have the lift station drained. "It's quite a process," Patton said. "They gave us a quote for $17,000 to do that."
In the resolution brought before the council, Benson Hill asked for the city to take on the $17,000 cost, approve the purchase for the pumps and check valves and increase the pH limit allowed in the waste discharged by the facility.
"Benson Hill is agreeing to pay for the pumps, the $53,000, the check valves at $46,000 as well," Patton said.
Creston Plant Manager Isaac Arndt gave the council Benson Hill's position on the project. "We looked and weighed out multiple options," he said. "It's best for the city and for us if we can just buy the pumps, install them and it's kind of a win-win for both parties instead of going down a treatment at our facility and having to manage that."
One option presented to the council was not getting the pumps installed by Electric Pump, opting to do it themselves and forgo buying new pipes. Jim Bristow with public works said the cast iron piping is all original. While the new pipes will also be cast iron, the epoxy coating will help with the corrosion.
"We worked closely on this project, and in good faith, I think we'd both come to terms that we were comfortable with and thought it was a long term resolution that everybody — it was a win-win," Arndt said.
Ultimately, the council approved an addendum to the Treatment Agreement for Benson Hill, based on the recommendation of Veenstra and Kimm. The council also approved the purchase of two submersible pumps, accessories and check valves for use in high pH wastewater plus the cost for installation. Benson Hill will provide the city with payment for the pumps and check valves while the city will fund the installation of the pipes. The motions passed unanimously.
