WQ0006060_Report_20200303

GERDAU
Shape the future
March 3, 2020
Maria Schutte
NCDEQ Division of Water Resources
610 East Center Avenue
Mooresville, NC 28115
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Re: Gerdau Ameristeel US, Inc — Charlotte Steel Mill Noncompliance Notification
Dear Ms. Schutte,
This letter is being provided to provide written notification of a discharge that occurred at the
Gerdau Charlotte Steel Mill on February 28, 2020. Initial notification was provided via phone
conversation at approximately 05:00 PM on February 28, 2020 within the first twenty-four hours of
the discharge as required in Permit No. WQ0006060.
The Mill experienced a discharge of process water from the Rolling Mill process pond on February
28, 2020 beginning at approximately 12:00 AM. As the mill was preparing to perform maintenance
work to the process pond, an employee was assigned to pump the water from the pond into frac
tanks staged on site. The employee last checked the tank level at 9:30 PM on February 27, 2020
and approximated the tank to be half full at that time. The employee failed to check the tank again
until approximately 05:00 AM on February 28, 2020, when the tank was discovered to be
overflowing.
Based on an estimated flow rate of 55 gpm the tank began to overflow at approximately 12:00 AM
and continued to overfill until 05:00 AM. The tank overflowed for approximately five (5) hours and
discharged approximately 16,000 to 18,000 gallons of process water to the ground which flowed to
the stormwater ponds. When the discharge was discovered the pump was immediately shut down
and a vacuum truck service was dispatched to clean any free water that was still pooled on the
road and the storm drains. The vacuum truck service captured approximately 2,000 gallons within
two (2) hours. All the water was contained on site and no oil or oil staining was observed on the
road or in the stormwater ponds. Upon an engineering review of the procedure it was determined
that an insignificant amount of oil was released as the procedure pumped water from the bottom of
the pond and the oil was floating on the surface.
Proactive precautionary procedures were enacted with oil socks placed around all stormwater
drains in the area and oil booms placed in the stormwater ponds around the inlets to prevent any
potential oil from contaminating the ponds. To ensure no oil was released off site we plugged the
overflow outlet of the north stormwater pond. Oil booms were also placed in the overflow of the
south stormwater pond. Additionally, Gerdau rented frac tanks and pumped 85,000 gallons out of
the north stormwater pond to increase capacity in case of a major rainfall event.
6601 Lakeview Rd — Charlotte NC — 28269 — Phone: [phone] — www.gerdau.com/longsteel

GERDAU
Shape the future
To prevent any additional releases an employee was assigned to continuously monitor the
pumping process during the draining of the process pond. A routine procedure will be developed
for employees to follow while performing this critical activity in the future.
If you have any questions regarding this release please do not hesitate to contact me directly at
[phone], ext 3128.
Sincerely,
rChurchill
EHS Manager
Gerdau Charlotte Steel Mill
6601 Lakeview Road
Charlotte, NC 28269
6601 Lakeview Rd — Charlotte NC — 28269 — Phone: [phone] — www.gerdau.com/longsteel