Delays set back progress on Brunswick Co. Water Treatment Plant

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) — The contractor has not reached the scheduled milestones for the Northwest Water Treatment Plant, according to an update from Brunswick County officials.

According to Brunswick County, though it did its best to provide support, the project contractor has not completed the tasks for the plant’s expanded capacity and reverse osmosis (RO) treatment system.

The county states that if the contractor fails to complete the project on time, it requests the surety overseeing the contractor to “take over the work and complete the performance of the subject contract.”

According to the county, a new completion schedule is being developed as county staff, consultants, and surety representatives evaluate the remaining tasks and find contractors to finish them.

Officials say they do not know when they will get the new project schedule, but anticipate receiving it by the summer.

“We recognize that this is not the news that people wanted to hear, but it is an important and very much needed step to getting this project over the finish line,” County Manager Steve Stone said. “This is the largest project in Brunswick County’s history, and we have to make sure it is done right. Our community has waited too long already to get a solution to removing PFAS from our water supply, and we felt this was the best step to getting our RO treatment system online as soon as possible.”

Officials say there are no expected impacts to the original project cost of $167.3 million or any water customers’ rates due to the delays.

The project was estimated to be around 85% complete as of January.

You can view more details on the project’s progress here.

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