HomeMy WebLinkAboutPipeline March & April
March/April
2024
Winner is...And the
YOUR SOURCE FOR OC SAN NEWS AND INFORMATION
We are pleased to
announce the winner of the
Renaming of Pipeline!
We had over 150 votes, and
Pipeline is the winning name!
We introduce to you the
NEWLY DESIGNED
Thank you to all who voted!
The 2023 Safety Committee report underscores OC San's commitment to a safer environment. Through 12 regular
meetings, the committee focused on strengthening safety policies, regulatory compliance, and innovative initiatives for
facilities, workforce, and the community.
A comprehensive safety and health audit ensured all Title 8 programs (CAL/OSHA - Division of Occupation Safety
and Health regulations we follow) were current. Emergency preparedness was also a focus, with drills conducted
for cyber and tsunami scenarios under Business Continuity Plans, (which contains critical information we need to
continue operating during an unplanned event). These drills, led by the Risk Management team, identified valuable
insights to further strengthen our response plans.
Finally, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we maintained full permit compliance while prioritizing employee
safety through Centers for Disease Control guidelines and adherence to employment and labor laws. Our commitment
to continuous improvement is showcased by our achievements. Thank you to each and every one of you, we all
contributed to a successful year.
All four 2023 goals were achieved
Strengthening safety protocols
Finalizing Voluntary Protection Program actions and achieving California Voluntary Protection
Program Star status in November
Running cyber and tsunami simulations
Effectively managing the COVID-19 pandemic
PAGE TWO | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE THREE | MARCH/APRIL 2024
2023 SafetyCommitteeREPORT
PAGE FOUR | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE FIVE | MARCH/APRIL 2024
Gerry Matthews
20 Years
Roy Reynolds
22 Years
Jagadish Oruganti
23 Years
Darius Ghazi
24 Years
Thomas Nguyen20 Years
Jim Spears
32 Years
Roger Herbst
13 Years
Anantkumar Amin13 Years
Bob Bell
30 Years
2024
Eros Yong
12 Years
PAGE SIX | MARCH/APRIL 2024
The Gisler-Red Hill Interceptor and Baker Force Main Rehabilitation Project No. 7-65 is a Capital
Improvement Program (CIP) project within the streets of Costa Mesa that is currently in construction.
Because the project rehabilitates two different regional pipelines covering a large area of Costa Mesa impacting
completely different areas, the project is separated into two subprojects when communicating with the public. In fact,
when communicating with the public we use completely different names so its easier for them to understand and
relate to the location.
The Gisler-Red Hill Interceptor, publicly known as the Costa Mesa Sewer Rehab Along the 405, will rehabilitate or
repair 30 manholes, almost three miles of gravity sewer including three pipelines that cross under the 405 freeway.
Costa Mesa Construction
A pre-measured liner was
delivered in a refrigerated
truck and then inserted
through a tower and inverted
into the pipe.
After the liner was placed inside the pipe, it was filled with
water and heated to a certain steady temperature for almost
2 days around-the-clock to cure the liner. After fully curing,
the liner hardens and becomes a fully structural support
within the existing pipe.
The Baker Force Main, publicly known as Airway-Airport Loop Sewer Rehab, because it runs along
Airway Ave and Airport Loop consists of rehabilitating approximately one mile each of two parallel
42-inch ductile iron pipes constructed in 1991 that conveys flows from the Main Street Pump
Station.
It will also replace supporting valves and piping at the Main Street Pump Station. This portion of
the project began late last year and has already installed a liner in the pipe using the cured-in-place
pipe method. Take a look at the photos below to see how it is done.
PAGE SEVEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024
Access pits were excavated to access the top of the pipe.
The $43.5 million project began
construction in late 2023 and is
anticipated to be completed in
2025. Visit www.ocsan.gov/
airwayairport or www.ocsan.gov/
alongthe405 for more information
about the project.
PAGE EIGHT | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE NINE | MARCH/APRIL 2024
Division Profile
In this issue of the Pipeline, we take a closer look at our Design Division (760) to learn a little bit more about their work at OC San.
DESIGN DIVISION 760
Front row: Martin Dix, Madan Patel, Bob Tran, May Kyi, Jim Stewart and Andrew Cole
Second row: Sterling Harris, Jason Lanning, Milind Wable, Ryan Houston, Natalia Bassett and Olga Prado
Third row: Kevin Le, Reza Rezaei, Warren Liu, Cyril Davies and Jennifer Wein
Top row: Quoc Tran, Brian Terrell, Matthew Killion, Charles Falzone and Allison McGuire
1. How does the Design group support OC San’s
mission and goals?
We provide technical leadership and design oversight for the
Capital Improvement Program (CIP). With that in mind, our
mission is to ensure all OC San facilities are designed to be
maintainable, operable, reliable, and affordable. To do this we
have to work closely with our stakeholders throughout OC
San. Without them, we would not be successful.
In fact, our success depends on building close working
relationships with all our stakeholders so that together we
scrutinize the designs that build the CIP. Also, our Process
Control and Instrumentation (PCI) group works hard to
ensure the mission critical real-time control systems is always
online and serving the needs of Operations & Maintenance.
2. What is your division responsible for?
What’s the day to day operations for your team?
The Design division is responsible for technically leading
projects from kick-off to closeout. We work closely with
the Project Management Office, O&M, Construction
Management, Planning and other divisions to ensure
our projects are reliable, maintainable, operable, and cost
effective for the lifetime of the facility.
Our group also provides construction support,
commissioning oversight during construction, and control
systems for our facilities. In addition to project duties,
our division is responsible for updating and maintaining
OC San standards to ensure they are current, reflect best
practices, and capture lessons learned.
Day-to-day, the civil, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation groups work closely with consultants to make informed
project decisions, enforce OC San standards, ensure design quality, oversee the design process, and obtain key stakeholder
input. Our PCI group also works on designs, but day-to-day they work primarily with construction and operations
to program and troubleshoot our control systems and ensure mission critical real-time control systems are online and
available at least 99.9 percent of the time.
Charles Falzone, May Kyi and Bob Tran (Div. 760).
• Civil & Mechanical Design
for Collections
• Civil & Mechanical Design
for Plants
• Process Controls Integration
• Electrical, Instrumentation &
Control Design
3. How many people work in your division?
There are 40 staff in our division, separated into four different groups:We are the second largest
division within engineering,
after Construction
Management.
(Continued on page ten)
PAGE TEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE ELEVEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024
4. What have been some challenging projects your group has worked on?
Every project we work on has unique challenges, ranging from challenging decisions to scope creep to working
with different personalities.
Recently we faced challenges associated with inflation and the increase cost of projects P1-126, Primary
Sedimentation Basins No. 3-5 Replacement at Plant No. 1; P1-140, Activated Sludge-1 and Secondary Clarifier
Rehabilitation; 11-33, Edinger Pump Station Replacement; and P2-128, the project formerly known as
Temperature Phase Anerobic Digester Facility at Plant No.2 (TPAD).
The concurrent cost increase on many of our large projects in design led to some challenging decisions. TPAD
faced an extraordinarily difficult decision of whether to continue with the project as-is or construct the facility
in phases.
OC San has a long-term goal to diversify our biosolids portfolio, which opens additional options for beneficial
reuse. The TPAD process supported that goal by producing Class A biosolids at Plant No. 2. However, due
to the increased capital and operational cost of the facility, the project no longer fit into OC San’s program
as planned. The team coordinated with all internal stakeholders, met with different agencies in California and
around the country, attended intense workshops and presented several times to our EMT to ultimately arrive at
the decision to do the project in two phases.
The two-phase approach has the benefit of addressing OC San’s immediate needs and providing flexibility on
our future biosolids approach. This approach reduces cost and avoids the delay of other essential projects, such
as P1-126, P1-140 and 11-33. A follow-on project will achieve our long-term goal of diversifying our biosolids
portfolio with a Class A or other product. P2-128 is now named Digester Replacement at Plant No. 2.
There will be more challenges to complete design and construction, but ultimately, P2-128 will provide
OC San with a modern digester facility that is reliable, operable, and maintainable for years to come.
(Continued from page nine)
Division Profile
5. Are there any interesting or memorable experiences your division has had?
An interest or memorable experience in the design group was the group’s participation in OC San’s 2018 Star-
Studded Halloween Event.
The 2018 Halloween celebration included door decoration and costume contests. The entire event was filled with
fun, excitement, laughter, and genuine downtime away from our daily grind.
Time spent together
brainstorming,
developing costume
ideas, and dressing
up as “Sewage
Busters” left an
indelible mark in
our memories.
2018 Halloween Event.
7. What got you into Engineering?
Warren Liu: Back in college, picking my college major was a big decision in my life. And, I’m glad that I
made the right decision to be a civil engineer. I still remember that I wanted a job to help our community
during my math class for the first year in college. Growing up with no paved street, no sewer system, and a
broken house in China, I wanted to do something to make our society better in my career. Civil engineering
is the perfect field for me. I worked at City of LA for 13 years, and now work at OC San. I’m very lucky, and
happy to do what I love. I've found the dream job.
Wendy Allison: That’s easy! The proud and astounded look on my dad’s face when I told him I was
interested in being a civil engineer. I’ll never forget that look, to this day it continues to be a source of
motivation for me.
Marianne Kleine: I used to admire engineers, but never imagined I could be one. Then when I started
junior college (age 28 or so), I went to the testing center to see if they could help me see my level of aptitude. I
genuinely had no idea what the outcome would be. Lucy, the proctor, tabulated the results and told me that
with a Critical Thinking score in the 96 percentile, I could be anything I wanted. I was so elated and excited
that as I walked out that door I thought to myself “then I am going to be an engineer”. I had a long road
ahead of me, but the reward was worth every effort I put into it.
6. Why is the Design group so important to
OC San?
To achieve its mission to protect public health and the
environment, OC San spends a large portion of its budget
each year on the CIP. For FY 23/24, the CIP was projected
to be $270 million, or 48.3 percent of all expenditures.
Our division is tasked with ensuring all CIP projects are
designed to be reliable, maintainable, and operable at
optimum lifecycle cost. We provide construction support
services, including commissioning, to ensure that projects
conform to the contract documents. We also provide control
systems that are highly reliable, safe, and secure.
8. Fun Facts
Natalia Basset: I like animals and have four rescued cats.
Brian Terrell: I am a Scoutmaster and I like to cook (Elk Wellington that I made from an Elk Tenderloin that I
harvested in December).
May Kyi: I am an avid rock climber and do aerial silks.
Charles Falzone: I was a former yo-yo champion and recently did a show for
my son's kindergarten class. I also help lead a cub scout pack and help coach
basketball.
Andrew Cole: I used to do half/full marathons and road bike, but those days
are over. I enjoy taking pictures of food and traveling with my wife. We have a
husky and her name is Yuna.
Majority of
Division 760 employees
are born in the months
of October and
November.
Kevin Le, Abodia Mohaab, Reza Rezaei, Jason Lanning, Sterling Harris,
Randy Inouye (on screen), Ryan Houston, Ian Curry (on screen), Matthew
Killion, Steve Geel and Hemal Dhodia
PAGE THIRTEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024
Since 2005, OC San has sponsored the Orange County Science and
Engineering Fair, which is a non-profit educational organization that
promotes science and engineering in Orange County since 1955.
Nine OC San employees volunteered to judge students’ projects
in categories that included Chemistry, Environmental Science,
Environmental Engineering, Earth Science, and Energy Conversion
& Alternative Energy Science. There were over 1,000 student projects
from across Orange County which was a 22 percent increase from
last year.
The winners were announced in March during a ceremony held at
Chapman University. OC San also provided a special award of $100
to one senior division project (grades 9-12) and one junior division
project (grades 6-8). The special awards are awarded to projects
aimed at improving the quality of life through improvement of water
quality, water resource management, watershed protection or water
and wastewater treatment, water reclamation, water conservation,
and urban runoff pollution.
OC San Employees Judge
the Virtual OC Science
and Engineering Fair
OC San and the Orange County Water District
(OCWD) were given the 2024 WateReuse
Awards for Excellence — Community Water
Champion award for the Final Expansion of
the Groundwater Replenishment System.
This award recognizes utilities and/
or government entities that ensure a
safe, reliable, locally controlled water
supply through the development of
water recycling treatment facilities,
infrastructure and/or other water
reuse project.
OCWD accepted this award on
behalf of both agencies in early
March. Congrats to everyone!
Thomas Nguyen — OC San is the best agency that allowed me to raise my
children and to buy my house. I would like to thank you my supervisor,
Joe Manzella; manager, Sam Choi and director Lan Wiborg and all my
colleagues at the OC San Laboratory for their support, patience and friendship
over the past 20 years. I wish them all the best in the coming years.
Thomas
Retiree Reflections
Jagadish Oruganti — It has been quite a journey starting as a contractor in Feb
1998 (we were called ‘CSDOC’ then) addressing the potential Y2K problem, joining
the OC San employee family in June 2000, surviving pandemic in 2020, and
retiring from OC San in March 2024. I had a great time and learned a lot while
working with you all. Thanks for all your support, collaboration and sharing life
lessons.
I wish I could see the move to the new headquarters, which is very close. However, I
am planning to attend future retirement celebrations.
Jagadish
And The Award Goes To
PAGE TWELVE | MARCH/APRIL 2024
Thank you to our volunteers
Cindy Murra, Jeff Brown, Yiping Cao, Dawn Myers, David
Lo, Rachel Van Exel, Shawn Carman, Jenna Obenshain and
Courtney Sakuma for representing OC San and encouraging
these students to continue with their love of Science and
Engineering.
PAGE FOURTEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE FIFTHTEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024
Wel come to the TEAM
Kareem Nayfeh
(Div. 770)
Student Intern
Wayne Wescott
(Div. 250)
Information
Technology
Technician
Bryce Hindes
(Div. 770)
Cost Estimator
Kevin Le
(Div. 760)
Information
Technology
Analyst II
Isai Carrillo
(Div. 140)
Graphic Designer
Sally Pederson
(Div. 770)
Senior Engineer
MEET COCO —
The most adventurous 7-year-old who
enjoys long drives, walks, and pup
cups. Her best trick is playing “dead”
when she lies on the floor frozen.
Vianey Sorto-Gaona (Div. 120)
Danielle Alvarez
(Div. 630)
Scientist
MEET CHEESE —
I'm just as cute as a button.
Julie Kardos (Div. 770)
MEET COCO, GYPSY
and JAX —
Brian Huynh (Div. 161)
MEET CANDY and LUCY —
Candy the cat and Lucy the dog love
to hang out on the cat tower.
Jerome Jovenal (Div. 620)
Sally Pederson, Kevin Le, Wayne Wescott, Isai Carrillo, Erik Cortez, Theresa Nguyen, Bryce
Hindes and Rob Thompson (General Manager)
Theresa Nguyen
(Div. 610)
Student Intern
Garrett Jones
(Div. 880)
Mechanic
Spring is a time of fresh starts, blooming flowers and
warmer weather. What better time for a healthy reboot than
springtime. Enjoy the following tips to help you on your
spring reset:
Move your body in ways you enjoy: Spring is a perfect
time to ditch the gym and rediscover activities you love, like
hiking, biking, or swimming.
Eat simply and nutritiously: Focus on whole, unprocessed
foods and cut back on added sugar and portion sizes. Colorful
fruits and vegetables are abundant in spring, so aim for a
rainbow on your plate!
Make time for yourself: Don't underestimate the power of
some quiet time for yourself. Choose an activity that helps
you unwind and de-stress. You'll be amazed at how much
better you feel!
Take a break from technology: Spring is a time for renewal,
so ditch the constant screen time! Explore new activities that
spark joy — try a new sport, volunteer your time, or pick up
a creative hobby.
Clean out your medicine cabinet: During spring cleaning,
don't forget to freshen up your medicine cabinet. Expired
medications (over the counter or prescribed) should be safely
discarded. The best way to dispose of most types of unused or
expired medicines is to drop them off at a drug take back site.
Don’t forget the toilet is not a trash can. Learn more about
What 2 flush.
OC San Pets
SpringSpring into a into a
New Employee Tour
HealthierHealthier You!You!SpringSpring into a into aHealthierHealthier You!You!
3. What type of vehicle do
you go off roading with?
My three brothers and I all have
off-road vehicles.
• Three Trucks• Three Jeeps
(including My Beast!)
4. Do you go with family/
friends?
We go together as a family, and
sometimes a couple of friends
from Orange County (also born
in Baja) will join us in their own
vehicles and we travel together
across the border. Once in
Ensenada, we meet up with our
childhood friends at my parent’s
home [at “our block” like we call it]. At least half of
our childhood friends have homes there and is an off-
road enthusiast. The day of the race, all of us gather
up around 4:30 a.m. / 5:00 a.m., and head out to the
desert.
5. Do you have any
exciting stories about
your experience?
Some of the best times we have
is just gathering as a group
with our childhood friends and
catching up. It is always so much
fun when the race cars get stuck
in the dirt, get a flat tire, their
car breaks down and they are not
by their pit stop, etc. Our group
of friends (85 percent male) will
go out there and help change a
tire, have helped flip cars over,
have pulled race cars stuck in the
dirt or in mud, give the drivers
water, etc.
There are so many things to do
in Ensenada (just the Baja fish tacos alone are worth
it). Again, this is not a sport for everybody, but it is
so much fun! We all take food to share and after the
motorcycles, trucks, Trophy trucks, and buggys pass
our area (and we are waiting for them to come back
around), we hang out, tell jokes, play games, play
music, dance, and catch up with each other. We get to
the races very early in the morning while it is still dark,
and leave when it is dark again. Very tiring, long day,
but very fun. If you can ever experience this, I highly
recommend it.
6. How did you get interested in this
activity?
I became interested in off-roading because I was born
and raised in Ensenada, BC, and it is just something
we do. The SCORE International races started in
Ensenada in 1969. Having a dad and three older
brothers, it was kind of a given that my mom and I
would go with them to the races, and my love for the
races began. My mom did not enjoy them much. This
is not a sport for many girls — it is dirty, and I mean
dirty — so much dust. There are no restrooms, so as a
girl you have to rough it out when you are out there
in the middle of the desert (need to find a bush, if you
know what I mean). Two of my sisters-in-law went
once, and that was it for them — no more.
PAGE SIXTEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE SEVENTEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024
We are the BEST and we want to highlight you, our
OC San SUPER STARS. This new(ish) section is a
take on our previously known Hoot and Holler section.
Think graduations, marathons, babies, marriages, pets,
etc. This is our Pipeline! Send your fun pictures and a
brief description to ForInformation@OCSan.gov to be
included in one of the upcoming issues.
There’s CALIFORNIA and then, there’s BAJA CALIFORNIA —
That being said, I AM a CALIFORNIA Girl!!!
1. How often do you go off-roading?
My brothers and I go to the Baja races NO LESS than
four times a year, and sometimes we go to Laughlin/
Vegas for other races.
We do not “race-race” but usually go with a large
group of friends from Ensenada, Baja (maybe 8-10
cars tailgating each other). We drive an hour/two hours
into the actual racecourse very early the morning of the
race (so we are technically off-roading) to choose a spot
where we can see the cars jump/or get stuck, that sort
of thing. People from our group have gotten stuck, one
of them got in an accident a few years back and flipped
over. On another occasion, when raining, we were
hanging on an edge of a hill and almost dropped/fell.
Luckily, we go with a group so there is always someone
there to assist. Scary, but SO MUCH fun!
2. Where do you go off-roading?
We mostly go off-roading in Baja (Ensenada/San
Felipe) — there are awesome places here in California
too, but we go to those less. Going back to Baja is fun
for us because we go to our childhood house, catch up
with our childhood friends, eat great food, see family,
etc. It’s just something that brings us back to our roots.
FEATURE
Olga Prado (Div. 760)
PAGE EIGHTEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PAGE NINETEEN | MARCH/APRIL 2024
CommunityConnections
City of La Palma
Community Conversation
Children’s Water Festival
Belen Carrillo and Gregg Deterding (Div. 140)
Rachel Orejel (Div. 140), Victoria Pilko (Div 750), Kelly Newell (Div. 140), Sam Choi (Div. 620),
Randa Abushaban (Div. 610), David Lo (Div. 620), Dawn Myers (Div 620), and Dindo Carrillo.
Not pictured: Tom Mergillano (Div. 610) and Belen Carrillo (Div. 140).
Costa Mesa Earth Day is an annual event hosted by the
city to highlight this important day and how we can all
be environmental stewards.
The Children’s Water Festival
is a two-day event teaching
3rd – 5th grade students across
Orange County about the
importance of water and the role
they can play to protect it.
La Palma Community Conversation is an event for
the public to chat with their local elected officials and
various public agencies about the essential service we
all provide.
Costa Mesa Earth Day
(Continued from seventeen)
Toastmasters is alive and well at OC San! Cortney Light won the
Speech Evaluations Area Contest by giving 2-3 minutes of impromptu
constructive feedback to a “test” speaker. Contestants were given just five
minutes to prepare their response. She will move forward to the Division
Contest later this month.
If you are interested in improving your speaking or presentation skills,
please reach out to Cortney. Watermeisters is a hybrid club that meets on
Thursday in Conference Room C at Plant No. 1 and via Zoom.
She was born October 2023. She’s a
super happy baby, loves to play and
she can’t wait to run around with
her older sister! Congrats Trang on
your beautiful baby girl.
She was born October 2023.
Congrats to Samir Patel. She’s
beautiful.
Cortney Light (Div. 830)
Jackie Lerma and Christiana Richardson (Div 830) meet across the pond
in Scotland at Edinburgh Castle.
Toastmasters First Place
Trang Doan (Div. 740)
Meet Baby Luna
Samir Patel (Div. 250)
Meet Baby Sonali
Giti Radvar (Div. 750), Enisha Matthews (Div 220),
Hye Oh (Div. 750), and Greg Blakeley (Retiree).
ServiceAwards
PAGE TWENTY | MARCH/APRIL 2024
30 YEARS
Cindy Ferry
Paul Spassoff
Mark Kawamoto
20 YEARS
Robert Michaels
Johnny Rocha
Jacob Dalgoff
15 YEARS
Randa AbuShaban
10 YEARS
April Frost
Reed Calvo
5 YEARS
Aaron Arce
Brian Bedard
Lan Wiborg
Lorraine Baltierra
Ryan Gregory
Nina Tran, from Information Tech
Analyst III to Senior Info Tech
Analyst
Alex Duarte, from Plant Operator to
Senior Plant Operator
David Haug, from Maintenance
Supervisor to Maintenance
Superintendent
Aurelio Jaime, from Senior
Mechanic to Maintenance Specialist
Tiffany Kieu, from Administrative
Assistant to Contract/Purchasing
Technician
Dickie Fernandez, from Engineer to
Senior Engineer
Joel Finch, from Senior
Environmental Specialist to Principal
Environmental Specialist
Bryce Hockensmith, from Senior
Accountant to Principal Accountant
Emily Tam, from Environmental
Specialist to Senior Environmental
Specialist
Brendon Tran, from Electrical Tech
I to Electrical Tech II
JUNE 8, 2024 | 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
SAVE THE DATE
Celebrating 70 Years of Environmental Excellence
YOUR SOURCE FOR OC SAN NEWS AND INFORMATION
Pipeline provides news and information
to OC San employees, retirees, and
the Board of Directors.
Pipeline is published bi-monthly by
the Public Affairs Division.
Senior Editor: Daisy Corvarrubias
Editor: Rebecca Long
Writer: Kelly Newell
Designers: Gregg Deterding
Isai Carrillo
Proofreader: Cheryl Scott
Submit story ideas to
forinformation@ocsan.gov.