FA-29636_48762_G_NORR_20221229

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Division of Waste Management 
Wilmington Regional Office | 127 Cardinal Drive Extension | Wilmington, NC 28405 | 
(910) 796‐7215 

December 29, 2022

East King, Inc
Gulam Sakina, Registered Agent
500 King Street
Hamlet, NC 28345

Re: Notice of Regulatory Requirements
15A NCAC 02L .0404 and 02L .0405 
Risk-based Assessment and Corrective Action
for Commercial Petroleum Underground Storage
Tanks

Hamlet Food Mart
500 King Street, Hamlet
Richmond County
Incident Number: 48762
Risk Classification: Pending
Ranking: Pending

Dear Ms. Sakina:
Information received by this regional office of the Underground Storage Tank Section, Division of Waste
Management, confirms a release or discharge from a petroleum underground storage tank (UST) system at
the above-referenced location. Records indicate that you are the owner or operator of this UST system.
Therefore, as a responsible party, you must comply with the initial response and abatement action
requirements of the Title 15A of the North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC), Subchapter 02L .0404
and, if applicable, the assessment and reporting requirements of Title 15A NCAC 02L .0405, within the
timeframes specified in the attached rules. (Be aware that if Title 15A NCAC 02L .0405 is applicable, you
must comply with its requirements even if you do not receive formal notification from the UST Section.)
Initial abatement action requirements include the preparation and submittal of an Initial Abatement Action
(IAA) Report, in accordance with Title 15A NCAC 02L .0404 and the most recent version of the Guidelines
for Site Checks, Tank Closure, and Initial Response and Abatement, within 90 days of discovery of the
release.
Because a release or discharge has been confirmed, a Licensed Geologist or a Professional Engineer,
certified by the State of North Carolina, is required to prepare and certify all reports submitted to the
Department of Environmental Quality in accordance with Title 15A NCAC 02L .0103(e) and 02L .0111(e).

Please note that before you sell, transfer, or request a “No Further Action” determination for a property that
has not been remediated to below “unrestricted use” standards, you must file a Notice of Residual Petroleum
("Notice") with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located (North Carolina General
Statutes 143B-279.9 and 143B-279.11).
Failure to comply with the State's rules in the manner and time specified may result in the assessment of
civil penalties and/or the use of other enforcement mechanisms.
If you have any questions regarding trust fund eligibility or reimbursement from the Commercial Leaking
Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Funds, please contact the UST Section Trust Fund Branch
at [phone]. If you have any questions regarding the actions that must be taken or the rules mentioned
in this letter, please contact me at the address or telephone number listed below.

Sincerely,
Liz Price
Hydrogeologist
Wilmington Regional Office
UST Section, Division of Waste Management, NCDEQ
Enclosures: Title 15A NCAC 02L .0404 and 02L .0405

cc: Richmond County Health Department

Charlie Moore – via email
Michael Faris & Blake Berry, ARM – via email
Bhadreshkumar Patel – 500 Main Street East
Hamlet, NC 28346
15A NCAC 02L .0404 REQUIRED INITIAL ABATEMENT ACTIONS BY RESPONSIBLE PARTY
(a) A responsible party for a commercial underground storage tank shall:
(1) take action to prevent any further discharge or release of petroleum from the underground storage
tank; identify and mitigate any fire, explosion, or vapor hazard; remove any free product; and
comply with the requirements of Rules .0601 through .0604, .0701 through .0703, and .0705 of
Subchapter 02N within 24 hours of discovery;
(2) incorporate the requirements of 15A NCAC 02N .0704 into the submittal required under Item (3)
of this Paragraph or the limited site assessment report required under 15A NCAC 02L .0405 of
this Section, whichever is applicable. The submittals shall constitute compliance with the
reporting requirements of 15A NCAC 02N .0704(b); and
(3) submit within 90 days of the discovery of the discharge or release a soil contamination report
containing information sufficient to show that remaining unsaturated soil in the side walls and at
the base of the excavation does not contain contaminant levels that exceed either the "soil-to-
groundwater" or the residential maximum soil contaminant concentrations established by the
Department pursuant to 15A NCAC 02L .0411 of this Section, whichever is lower. If the showing
is made, the discharge or release shall be classified as low risk by the Department as defined in
Rules .0406 and .0407 of this Section.
(b) A responsible party for a noncommercial underground storage tank shall:
(1) take necessary actions to protect public health, safety, and welfare and the environment, including
actions to prevent any further discharge or release of petroleum from the noncommercial
underground storage tank; to identify and mitigate any fire, explosion, or vapor hazard; and to
report the release within 24 hours of discovery, in compliance with G.S. 143-215.83(a), G.S. 143-
215.84(a), G.S. 143-215.85(b), and G.S. 143-215.94E; and
(2) provide or otherwise make available any information required by the Department to determine the
site risk as described in Rules .0405, .0406, and .0407 of this Section.
(c) The Department shall notify the responsible party for a noncommercial underground storage tank that no
cleanup, no further cleanup, or no further action shall be required without requiring additional soil remediation
pursuant to Rule .0408 of this Section, if the site is determined by the Department to be low risk. This classification
shall be based on information provided to the Department that:
(1) describes the source and type of the petroleum release, site-specific risk factors, and risk factors
present in the surrounding area as defined in Rules .0406 and .0407 of this Section;
(2) demonstrates that no remaining risk factors are present that are likely to be affected per G.S. 143-
215.94V(b); or
(3) documents that soils remaining onsite do not contain contaminant levels that exceed either the
"soil-to-groundwater" or the residential maximum soil contaminant concentrations established by
the Department pursuant to Rule .0411 of this Section, whichever is lower.
The Department shall reclassify the site as high risk, as defined in Rule .0406(1) of this Section, upon receipt of new
information related to site conditions indicating that the discharge or release from a noncommercial underground
storage tank poses an unacceptable risk or a potentially unacceptable risk to human health or the environment, as
described in Rule .0407 of this Section.

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.2; 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.94A; 143-215.94E; 143-215.94T; 143-
215.94V; 143B-282; 1995 (Reg. Sess. 1996) c. 648,s. 1;
Recodified from 15A NCAC 02L .0115(c)(1)-(3);
Amended Eff. December 1, 2005;
Temporary Amendment Eff. September 29, 2017.

15A NCAC 02L .0405 REQUIREMENTS FOR LIMITED SITE ASSESSMENT
If the required showing for a commercial underground storage tank cannot be made or if the Department determines
that a release from a noncommercial underground storage tank represents an unacceptable risk under 15A NCAC
02L .0404 of this Section, the responsible party shall submit within 120 days of the discovery of the discharge or
release, or within such other greater time limit approved by the Department pursuant to Item (10) of this Rule, a
report containing information needed by the Department to classify the level of risk to human health and the
environment posed by a discharge or release under 15A NCAC 02L .0406 of this Section. The report shall include:
(1) a location map, based on a USGS topographic map, showing the radius of 1500 feet from the
source area of a confirmed release or discharge and depicting all water supply wells, surface
waters, and designated wellhead protection areas as defined in 42 U.S.C. 300h-7(e) within the
1500-foot radius. 42 U.S.C. 300h-7(e), is incorporated by reference including subsequent
amendments and editions. Copies may be obtained at no cost from the U.S. Government
Bookstore's website at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title42/html/USCODE-
2010-title42-chap6A-subchapXII-partC-sec300h-7.htm. The material is available for inspection at
the Department of Environmental Quality, UST Section, 217 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC
27603. For purposes of this Section, source area means point of release or discharge from the
underground storage tank system;
(2) a determination of whether the source area of the discharge or release is within a designated
wellhead protection area as defined in 42 U.S.C. 300h-7(e);
(3) if the discharge or release is in the Coastal Plain physiographic region as designated on a map
entitled "Geology of North Carolina" published by the Department in 1985, a determination of
whether the source area of the discharge or release is located in an area in which there is recharge
to an unconfined or semi-confined deeper aquifer that is being used or may be used as a source of
drinking water;
(4) a determination of whether vapors from the discharge or release pose a threat of explosion due to
the accumulation of vapors in a confined space or pose any other serious threat to public health,
public safety, or the environment;
(5) scaled site map(s) showing the location of the following that are on or adjacent to the property
where the source is located: site boundaries, roads, buildings, basements, floor and storm drains,
subsurface utilities, septic tanks and leach fields, underground storage tank systems, monitoring
wells, borings, and the sampling points;
(6) the results from a limited site assessment that shall include:
(a) the analytical results from soil samples collected during the construction of a monitoring
well installed in the source area of each confirmed discharge or release from a
noncommercial or commercial underground storage tank and either the analytical results
of a groundwater sample collected from the well or, if free product is present in the well,
the amount of free product in the well. The soil samples shall be collected every five feet
in the unsaturated zone unless a water table is encountered at or greater than a depth of 25
feet from land surface in which case soil samples shall be collected every 10 feet in the
unsaturated zone. The soil samples shall be collected from suspected worst-case locations
exhibiting visible contamination or elevated levels of volatile organic compounds in the
borehole;
(b) if any constituent in the groundwater sample from the source area monitoring well
installed in accordance with Sub-item (a) of this Item, for a site meeting the high risk
classification in 15A NCAC 02L .0406(1), exceeds the standards or interim standards
established in 15A NCAC 02L .0202 by a factor of 10 and is a discharge or release from
a commercial underground storage tank, the analytical results from a groundwater sample
collected from each of three additional monitoring wells or, if free product is present in
any of the wells, the amount of free product in such well. The three additional monitoring
wells shall be installed as follows: as best as may be determined, one upgradient of the
source of contamination and two downgradient of the source of contamination. The
monitoring wells installed upgradient and downgradient of the source of contamination
shall be located such that groundwater flow direction may be determined; and
(c) potentiometric data from all required wells;
(7) the availability of public water supplies and the identification of properties served by the public
water supplies within 1500 feet of the source area of a confirmed discharge or release;
(8) the land use, including zoning if applicable, within 1500 feet of the source area of a confirmed
discharge or release;
(9) a discussion of site specific conditions or possible actions that could result in lowering the risk
classification assigned to the release. The discussion shall be based on information known or
required to be obtained under this Paragraph; and
(10) names and current addresses of all owners and operators of the underground storage tank systems
for which a discharge or release is confirmed, the owner(s) of the land upon which such systems
are located, and all potentially affected real property owners. When considering a request from a
responsible party for additional time to submit the report, the Division shall consider the extent to
which the request for additional time is due to factors outside of the control of the responsible
party, the previous history of the person submitting the report in complying with deadlines
established under the Commission's rules, the technical complications associated with assessing
the extent of contamination at the site or identifying potential receptors, and the necessity for
action to eliminate an imminent threat to public health or the environment.

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.2; 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.94A; 143-215.94E; 143-215.94T; 143-
215.94V; 143B-282; 1995 (Reg. Sess. 1996) c. 648,s. 1;
Recodified from 15A NCAC 02L .0115(c)(4);
Amended Eff. December 1, 2005;
Temporary Amendment Eff. September 29, 2017.