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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNCS000548_Hearing Officers Report_20150515North Carolina Division of Energy Mineral and Land Resources May 15, 2015 Memorandum To: Tracy Davis Director From: Brad Cole Original Signed by Brad Cole Chief Engineer, Land Quality Section Subject: NPDES Stormwater Permit Hearing - Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC Power Facilities Hearing Officer's Report and Recommendations On April 8, 2015 1 served, along with Jim Gregson with the Division of Water Resources, as Hearing Officer for a public hearing on the proposed issuance of NPDES discharge permits for three Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC power plant facilities. The public hearing considered two draft permits at each of the three facilities. At each facility a draft permit was considered for wastewater discharges and for stormwater discharges. My main focus is considerations for the finalization of the NPDES stormwater discharge permits at the three facilities. The three permits considered are outlined in the table below. Allen Steam Station - NCS000546: This facility is located at 253 Plant Allen Road in Belmont, NC - Gaston County. The facility discharges stormwater to the Catawba River and South Fork River in the Catawba River Basin. Marshall Steam Station - NCS000548: The facility is located at 8320 East NC Highway 150 in Terrell, NC - Catawba County. The facility discharges stormwater to the Catawba River (Lake Norman) in the Catawba River Basin. Riverbend Steam Station - NCS000549: The facility is located at 175 Steam Plant Road in Mount Holly, NC - Gaston County. The facility discharges stormwater to Mountain Island Lake in the Catawba River Basin. The hearing was held in Lincolnton, NC at the James Warner Citizen Center. Around sixty people attended the hearing, not counting Department staff. Twenty-three people spoke at the hearing and provided comments on the various permits being considered. The public comment period on the proposed permits was open until May 5, 2015. No specific comments on the three stormwater permits were received at the public hearing. During the comment time period the Division received three comment letters, one for each of the three facilities. These letters were all from the permittee - Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. and covered their comments on specific permit language. Background The permit fact sheets for the three permits outline in more detail the basis for permit coverage and permit requirements for these facilities. These facilities are, or have been, steam electric power generating facilities. This industry sector is required to have NPDES permit coverage for stormwater point sources discharges from the industrial activities at their facilities. The permit documents and the information presented at the hearing noted that for a major portion of the industrial plant areas and ash handling areas of these sites stormwater is collected and treated in the facilities' wastewater treatment system. Those drainage areas are covered in separate wastewater NPDES permits. For the areas covered by these stormwater permits, the major provisions of the permit are requirements for a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for the facilities along with monitoring (visual and quantitative) and inspection requirements. These provisions provide comprehensive coverage through the implementation and regular evaluation and adjustment of management measures on each site to minimize the discharge of pollutants during rainfall events. Hearing Officer's Report April 2015 Public Hearing Allen, Marshall and Riverbend Steam Stations SUMMARY OF PUBLIC COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS As indicated above, the only specific comments received that addressed the three Stormwater NPDES Permits were from the permittee — Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. Staff in the Stormwater Permitting Program have reviewed the comments received from Duke and I have met with staff to review the comments and the Division's responses to these concerns. Based on these discussions I concur with the recommended changes in the final permits for these three facilities. The changes included are minor in nature and the final permits maintain essentially the same requirements as those taken to public notice. In the process of finalizing the permits staff have developed transmittal letters for each permit that address the permittee's comments and the Division's response to these comments. The comments received were all related to specific outfalls at the three facilities. I have summarized below what I feel were the major issues raised. In a number of cases the Duke requested that monitoring requirements be removed due to inaccessibility to the outfall location. Monitoring will be maintained at all of these locations, but the concerns have been acknowledged and it has been clarified that the facilities can work with the Regional Office to pursue representative outfall status or to find alternative monitoring locations within the drainage system. In a few situations Duke requested that outfalls that would be abandoned be referenced differently in the permits and that a timeline be set to abandon the outfalls. Requirements in the permit have been maintained because the permit acknowledges that when the outfalls are no longer discharging the facilities can work with the Division to verify this and monitoring requirements can be suspended. Until eventual removal the outfalls will continue to have permit requirements. Duke requested in two situations to have outfalls removed because they drained areas that were not industrial activities. In one situation the request was accepted because the area was stabilized and does not have any activities considered industrial. In the second example the permit allows the facility to work with the regional office to demonstrate that no industrial activities are present and remove the permit requirements once verified. In a number of situations Duke requested that representative outfall status be allowed for a number of outfalls. This is a process that is allowed in all stormwater permits and can be coordinated with regional office staff. Consistent with this approach, these permits will maintain monitoring for the outfalls and direct the facilities to work with the regional office staff on potential representative outfall determinations. Based on my review of the information associated with these permits, public comments received and my discussions with Stormwater staff I recommend that the Director move forward to issue the final permits with the minor modification that have been included. Final permits are attached to this package for your signature. If you have any questions, please contact me to discuss. Page 2 ATTACHMENTS A. Announcement of Public Hearing B. Hearing Information — Stormwater Presentation C. Comments Received on Stormwater Permits Page 3 Hearing Officer's Report April 2015 Public Hearing Allen, Marshall and Riverbend Steam Stations Attachment A: Announcement of Public Hearing PUBLIC NOTICE N.C. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES INTENT TO ISSUE NPDES WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER DISCHARGE PERMITS Public comment or objection to the draft permits is invited. All comments received by May 5, 2015 will be considered in the final determination regarding permit issuance and permit provisions. PERMIT APPLICATIONS Duke Energy Carolinas LLC, P.O. Box 1006, Charlotte, N.C., has applied for a NPDES permit to discharge wastewater and a NPDES stormwater permit to discharge stormwater from each of the following industrial power plant facilities: Allen Steam Station, 253 Plant Allen Rd., Belmont, N.C., Gaston County. The facility discharges to the Catawba River in the headwaters of Lake Wylie in the Catawba River basin. Marshall Steam Station, 8320 East N.C. Highway 150, Terrell, N.C., Catawba County. The facility discharges to Lake Norman in the Catawba River basin. Riverbend Steam Station, 175 Steam Plant Rd., Mt. Holly, N.C., Gaston County. The facility discharges to the Catawba River (Mountain Island Lake) in the Catawba River basin. The draft stormwater and wastewater permits and related documents will be available online at: http://portal.ncdenr.or /g web/guest/duke-npdes-permits. Printed copies of the draft permits and related documents may be reviewed at the department's Mooresville Regional Office. To make an appointment to review the documents, please call 704-663-1699. Public comment on the stormwater permits should be mailed to: Stormwater Permitting, 1612 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1612. Public comment on the wastewater permits should be mailed to: Wastewater Permitting, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1617. Public comments may also be submitted via email to: publiccommentskncdenr.gov. IMPORTANT: Depending on which permit(s) you are commenting on, be sure to include either "Stormwater" or "Wastewater" in the email's subject line when submitting comments electronically. PUBLIC HEARING The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources will hold a public hearing to accept comments on the aforementioned permits on Wed., April 8, 2015 from 6-9 p.m. at the James Warner Citizen Center, 115 W. Main St., Lincolnton, N.C. Following the public hearing, the public comment period will remain open until May 5, 2015. Attachment B: Hearing Information — Stormwater Presentation NPDES Stormwater Permits ■ 40 CFR 122.26 —Permits for Industrial Activities ■ Ten Categories of Industrial Activities - includes Steam Electric Power Generation Facilities ■ Some Areas Excluded from Coverage - areas without exposed materials or industrial activity - areas with no point source discharge - areas draining to wastewater treatment ■ Plant Areas — most drain to wastewater treatment Stormwater Permit Requirements ■ Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan ■ Monitoring of Outfalls - Quantitative - Qualitative ■ Site, BMP and Outfall Inspections ■ Adjustment of Management Plans SW Pollution Prevention Plans ■ Written Management Plan for Each Site ■ Site Plan ■ Pollution Prevention / Good Housekeeping ■ Implementation of Management Practices ■ Certification of non-stormwater discharge ■ Employee Training ■ Regular Review and Update I Stormwater Monitoring ■ Visual and Analytical Monitoring ■ Conventional Pollutants, Metals, etc. ■ Monitoring to Guide Management Efforts ■ Tiered Response to Benchmark Values ■ Benchmark Values are not Limits — Do Lead to Required Response Inspections and Plan Review ■ Includes Outfall, Facility and Management Measure Inspections ■ Semi-annual and Response to Monitoring Results ■ Document Findings and Actions ■ Review Plan Annually and with Site Changes 2 Attachment C: Comments Received on Stormwater Permits f' DUKE ENERGY IClay 4, 2015 Korth Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resource., Stormwater Permitting 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-161/ Subject. Comment-, on the draft NPDES Stormwater Permit for Allen Steam Station Permit ICo.: NCS000546 Attention Stormwater Permitting: Rariy K siaeris Senior Vice President Environmental, HeahR a Sarety 5z6 SoutR CRrvvn Street Flail Code EC3XP CRadotte, AC 28202 (704)382-4303 The North Carolina DepaPL..ent of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resource., (the Division) issued a draft Natim,al Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Permit for the Duke Energy Allen steam Station on March 6, 2015. Dake Energy Carolinas [[E (Dake Energy) commends NCDEMR for developing the draft permit and recogni,.ing the need for the permit to racilitate the ash pond cloaare process. Duke Energy, respectfully, ,obmits the following com... ents on the draft permit. Represemitative Outfalls Dake Energy recognizes representative outfall status (ROS) is typically handled oat.ide of the permit. Rowever, given the number of outfall listed in the permit, Duke Energy will be requesting ROS as follows: — SW008 represents outfalls SW001, SW003, �wu'u/, SW008, SW009, SW010 and Group bvvu13 SW011 represents outfalls SWO11 and Sw012 - SW015 represent., outfalls SW015, SW016, SW018 and �wuz0 Comments on Outfall SW002 The permit application dated Nov. 17, 2014 listed uatfall SW002 (Drainage Area 2). Neither the permit nor fact -,heet references SW002. Duke Energy requests a review of SW002 to determine if any monitoring i., required. comments on Outfall SW013 Duke Energy requests the de-,cription for Outfall SW013 in the permit and tact sheet be re,i,ed to match the description in the permit. The outtall is a group of outfall that drain the rail lines and the eastern vegetated slopes of the anh landfill. One of the outfall., within tRe group is accessible and recommended for sampling. Comments on Datfdll SW017 and SW021 For clarification, Duke Energy requests Outfall 5W017 (Drainage Area 17) and Outfail SW021 (Drainage Area 21) be included in the heading with uatfall SW004 (Drainage Area 4), Outfall SW006 (Drainage Area 5), and Outfall SW014 (Drainage Area 14) in the permit and Fact sheet. Bothe of these outfalls are listed in the paragraph Below the heading. Comments on SW019 Duke Energy requests the monitoring requirements for uatfall SW019 Be removed fro... the permit. Outfall SW019 doe., not drain areas associated with the industrial activities at the site. Comments on SWDUS SW012 SW016 SW018 and aw020 Several of the stor...water outfalls are currently inaccessiBle. Providing sate and ,ecare access to these outfalls for sampli..g and monitoring will Be difficult and costly. Currently, Outfall �0012, SW016, SW018, SWOly and SW020 are inaccessiBle. �,a... pling of outfall SW008 will Be po»ible only at the inlet catch basin. i he inaccessiBle issue can Be addre» through ROS. Duke Energy welcomes any further di -,cession on our comments or the dratt permit. If you have any queatio..a, please contact Richard Baker at 704 382-7959 or at Ric5ard.saker@duRe-enera.com. sincerely, Harry K. Sideris Duke Energy Senior Vice President, Environmental, Health & Safety Bc: Jim Wells Richard Baker Brent Daeitt Shannon [ansley i vya usallo bteve Cahoon Jeremy Pruett Robert Wylie Don Scruggs Randy Gantt Natnan Craig Record Type Code: ENV -50-02 Document Number: 8-6 UPS: j &I -z- Ltyb pl �'sa� 3,5 5 f> DUKE ENERGY, Mlay 4, 2015 I9orth Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Rezoarces Stormwater Permitting 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 276%-161/ Subject: Comments on tRe draft NPDES Stormvvater Permit for Marshall Steam btation Permit IVo.: NCS000548 Attention �,tormwater Permitting: Harry K Sioeri5 Senior vice Preziaent Environmental, meani'l F Satcty u6 South LAurch Street Mail Code ECUP Charlotte, Mt, z8zuz (iu4) 382-43173 The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Rezoarces (NCDENR) Division of Energy, Plineral, and Land Resources (the Division) issued a draft ICational Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Permit for the Duke Energy IGlar.,hall Steam Station on March 6, zu15. Duke Energy Carolinas LLC (Duke Energy) commends NCDENR for developing the dratt permit and recognizing tRe need for Lye permit to facilitate the ash pond closa, a process. Duke Energy, respectfully, submits the following comments on the draft permit. RejRresemEaxive uutfalls Duke Energy recognizes representative outfall 'tdtus (ROS) is typically handled outside of the permit, However, given the number of outtalls I1.,ted in the permit, Duke Energy vvill be requesting ROS as follovv.': SWO03 represent untfalls SWO01, SWO01A, �wu0z, SWO03, SWO04, SWO12, Sw'u« and SW023 swum represents outfalls SWOOP) -,)w007, SW008, SW009 and Swull Comme,its on Outfalls SWO01, SWuu'uiw� and SWO02 Dake Energy requests the permit reflect tRe planned abandonment of Outfalls SWO01, SWO01A. and ,0002 as described in the peg mit application dated October y, z014. TRree new HDPE discharge pipes are being installed in the same general area as part of the erozion repair work to the nearby active ash 12 ba.,in dam embankment. DuRe Energy request the new HDPE outfalls be permitted with t5e same number designation as the abandon outfalls. Comments on Outfall SWOOy Duke Energy requests the monitoring requirements for Outfall _"w009 6e removed from the permit. Outtall SWO09 is the Same discharge as NPDES Outfall 001 (ID fan non -contact cooling water). which essentially discharge runtinuously. In addition, sample collertion from the outfall during high lake level., may not Be feasible. Comment., u,, the accessibility of Outfall SW006 swUO7 SWO08 SW009 Outfall SW011and Sw012 Several of the stormwater outfalls are currently inaccessible. Providing safe and :,ecaue access to these ontfall� for sampling and monitoring will be difficult and costly. Outtall Swull i., on a steep bank over the discharge canal. Outtall SWOO/ is ,abmerged and samples can only be obtained from an up -gradient manRole. Outfall SWO06, SWO'u8_ _,)wuu9 and SWO12 are very close to the Water level of the intake canal and access will be difficult during high water levels. The inaccessible »aC can be address t5rough ROS. Duke Energy welcomes any further discussion on our comment., or the draft permit. If you have any questions, please contact Richard Baker at 704 382-7959 or at.Richarci.BakerL@duke-energy.com. Sincerely, Harry R. _,)ideris Duke Energy ,)enior Vice President, Environmental, health & Satety 13 Bc: Jim Wells Richard Baker Rick Rope, Shannon [angley Toya ugallo �te,,e Cahoon Jeremy Pruett Robert Wylie Don Scruggs Joe La Sala NatRan Craig Record Type Code: ENV -50-02 Document Number: 8-6 UPS: 2,(-Z i u i 5'Sa ti rrr3 l� ENERGY May 4, 2015 North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Siormwater Permitting 161/ Rlail service Center Kaleigh. NC 27699-1617 Harry K. Siaeris Senior vice Presiaunt Environmeniai, Flealtn F Satrty U6 SaatR C parch Street (mail Code ECUP Charlotte, IGC z5zuz Quo) 38Z-4303 Subject: Comments on the draft NPDES starmwater Permit for Riverbend Steam station Permit No.: NCS00054y Attention Storm Water Permitting: The IvorTh Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (the Division) issued a dratt National Pollutant Discharge Elimination by.,tem (NPDES) Stormwater Permit for the Duke Energy Riverbend Steam Station on March 6, 2015. Dake Energy Carolinas LLC (Duke Energy) commends NCDENR for developing the draft permit and recognizing tRe need for the permit to facilitate the ash pond closure process. Dake Energy, respectfully, submits tRe following comments on the draft permit. Comments on SW001 1. Duke Energy requests the removal of stormwater uatfall Sw001 from the NPDES Stormwater Permit. I hi., outfall Ras Been included in the draft NPDES Wastewater Permit (permit no: NC0004y61) as Outfall 011. Comment., on SW003A z. Duke Energy requests a footnote Be added to Boron and the Priority Pollutant Metal., in sable 3: Analytical Monitoring Requirement., for SW003A referencing the need to only -,ample SW003A for Boron and the Priority Pollutant Metals, if coal or coal ash is transported through the drainage area. This footnote would be similar to footnote 5 trom Table 1_ Which states: 12 "These parameters shall be monitored only if coal or coal a.,h is transported through the drainage areas of these outfalls during the semi-annual monitoring period in Table 11." Comments on Swul 3. Duke Energy requests a footnote be added to Boron and the Priority Pollutant Metal., in i able 8: Analytical Monitoring Requirements for SW013 reterencing the need to only sample bw013 for Boron and tRe Priority Pollutant Metals, it coal or coal ash is transported through the drainage area. TRis footnote would be ,imilar to tootnote 5 from TaBle 1, which states: -These parameters sRall Be monitored only if coal or coal ash i. transported through the drainage areas of these outfalls during the semi-annual monitoring period in i able 11. - Comments on SWOuc, aw003 and SW006 4. Duke Energy requests tNe removal of the monitoring requirements Tor Outfall SW002 �,w003 and Swu06. These outfalls are inaccessiBle as stated in Dake Energy's comments dated August 11, LO11. Furthermore, there are no collection points between Outfall SW002 and Outrall SvvuU6 and tReir associated oil trap tank. Using the oil trap tang to collect a sample Would not Be representative of the actual discRarge. Comments on SW010, SW011, and SW012 5. Duke Energy reque�t� the monitoring requirements for outfalls SWOlO, SW011 and SW012 be removed from the permit. These outfalls are associated with the Lark Maintenance Facility and are not part of the industrial activities that occur at the site per NCDENR's response to comments by letter dated March 21 LO1L. Comments on SWOlu 6. Duke Energy requests the monitoring requirements for Outfall SW014 (including SWO14A, and SW'u146) be removed from the permit. These outfalls dram a 0.2 acre grass Basin area located on the east side of the station intake canal. This insignificant drainage area includes only the station septic tank access manways. Providing accea., to tnis outtall is not fea�ible and the likelihood of obtaining a qualitative sample trom this outfall is remote. Comments on SW015, SW016 and SW017 7. Duke Energy requeztz, a footnote Be added to Boron and t5e Priority Pollutant Metals in Table 10: Analytical Monitoring Requirements for z3wu15, SW016 and SWOli referencing the need to only sample SW'u15, SW016 and SW017 for Boron and tNe Priority Pollutant Metals, if coal or 13 coal ash is tran,ported Orough t5e drainage area. i his rootnote would Be similar to footnote 5 from TaBle 1, which states: "i hese parameters shall be monitored only if coal or coal ash i., transported througR the drainage areas of thew outralls during the semi-annual monitoring period in Table 11." Comment., on Outfalls to be Abandon S. DURe Energy requests the outfalls to be abandoned be referenced as one group in the permit and a suitaBle timeframe to abandon these outfall. i., stated in the permit, in lieu of listing the outfall individually and requesting a notification in writing of abandonment. i he outfalls to Be abandoned are Outfalls SW003, SW007, SW'u'uiH, SW013, SW014, Sw014A, SW01413, SW015, SWu16 and SW017. Duke Energy welcomes any furt5er discussion on our comments or the draft permit. If you have any questions, please contact Ric5ard Baker at v04 182-7959 or at.Richard.Baker@duke-energy.com. Sincerely r �� Marry K. Sideris Duke Energy Senior Vice President_ Environmental, Health & Safety Bc: Jim Wells Richard Baker Shannon Langley Toya Ogallo Steve Cahoon Jeremy Pruett Robert vvylie Chris Kallman Donna Burrell ivathan Craig Kecord Type Code: ENV -50-02 Document Number: 8-6 UPS: 2rZ 01 1,7N 9IS 5 �� `tSG