Two local infrastructure companies – San Dimas-based American States Water Co. and Pasadena-based Tetra Tech Inc. – scored major federal government contract wins in recent weeks.

American States Water announced on Aug. 17 that its contracted services subsidiary, American States Utility Services, won a contract from the Navy to operate, maintain and provide construction-management services for water distribution and wastewater collection facilities at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, which is located in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region. 

The 50-year contract is valued at about $349 million, or roughly $7 million a year. The contract is subject to annual economic price adjustments and allows American States Utility Services to add on to the contract with management of new construction projects.

“We are very pleased to have been awarded our first Navy contract and we take great pride in our strong relationship with the U.S. government and their continued confidence in our expertise in managing water and wastewater systems on military bases,” Robert Sprowls, chief executive of American States Water, said in the announcement. 

Naval Air Station Patuxent River serves as headquarters for several Navy operations, including the Naval Air Systems Command, the Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers and the Naval Air Station Port Operations. It also supports the Navy’s principal flight and ground test activity. 

With the addition of this naval air station beginning next year, American States Utility Services will be providing water and wastewater utility services at 12 military bases located in eight states. The unit, which was founded in 1998, is the unregulated subsidiary of American States Water. 

The other two subsidiaries – Golden State Water and Bear Valley Electric Services – are both regulated utilities. Golden State Water provides water service to about 263,000 customer connections located within more than 80 communities in Northern, Coastal and Southern California. Bear Valley Electric provides electricity to the Big Bear Lake region in San Bernardino County.

Meanwhile, Pasadena-based engineering and infrastructure services firm Tetra Tech announced on Aug. 1 that the United States Agency for International Development awarded the company a $32 million contract to provide architect and engineering services for dioxin remediation at the Bien Hoa Air Base area in Vietnam.

During the Vietnam War, the United States used the base to station Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine forces. The military also stored a widely used defoliant known as Agent Orange at the base; during the war, the chemical compound was used to clear trees in the jungles to reduce cover for North Vietnamese troops. Over time, highly toxic dioxin leaked from the Agent Orange containers, causing widespread contamination. The base has been generally acknowledged as the most contaminated site in all of Vietnam.

In April 2019, the United States Agency for International Development announced the start of a 10-year, $183 million effort to decontaminate the base of dioxin.

Under its five-year contract that is part of this broader program, Tetra Tech will provide engineering design, construction management, and environmental monitoring of civil works and treatment activities for dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment to reduce the risk of exposure to people on the base as well as in the communities that border it, and to restore the land for full use. 

“Tetra Tech has supported USAID’s environmental cleanup programs in Vietnam since 2012,” Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech’s chief executive, said in the announcement.

“We are pleased to continue using our ‘Leading with Science’ approach to apply innovative technologies to effectively remediate the soils and sediments in and around the Bien Hoa Air Base facilities,” Batrack added.