NC0089656_NOV-2021-PC-0424 Response_20210924

Ouse s
September 24, 2021
Mr. Edward Watson
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301
Mooresville, NC 28115
WECEIVED/NCDEQ/DWR
SEP 2 7 2021
MOORESVILWOROS
LE REGIONAL OFFICE
VIA UPS and EMAIL
RE: Notice of Violation — Violation G. S. 143-215.1(a) and NPDES Permit No. NC0089626
Unauthorized bypass of wastewater
Mr. Watson:
Please accept this letter as written response to the Notice of Violation detailing actions taken to
address said violation.
I have enclosed the sequence of events that was previously emailed by Dragan Nesic.
Onsite dewatering pumps failed after a power blip back in June due to nearby construction. To avoid
discharging into the storm drain, we diverted to the sanitary sewer, which we later discovered was a
violation. Had we known discharging into the sanitary sewer was not allowed, we certainly would not
have. The actions taken were in good faith to keep ground water away from nearby storm drains and
our intent was to have pumps repaired and back on-line as quickly as possible.
As a safeguard, additional backup pumps have been purchased in case of future failures. Onsite staff
are familiar with procedures to address similar failures to avoid any potential violation.
This is the first infringement of any type for Owner. Further, Owner has consistently taken
commercially reasonable efforts to protect both City infrastructure and the local environment, neither
if which was negatively impacted by the recent discharge to our knowledge. We value the relationship
we have with NCDEQ as we always have.
Please contact me at [e-mail] with questions or clarifications needed.
Sincerely,
Amy Albright
Property Manager
CPI Services LLC
in its capacity as Manager for Owner

From: Nesic, Dragan
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2021 6:08 PM
To: Watson, Edward M; Chris Orrell, P.G.
Cc: [e-mail]; Pitner, Andrew; Bell, Wes
Subject: RE: Dimensional Place Permit NC0089656
Good afternoon,
I believe I've gathered all the information you've requested but please let me know if there is anything I may have missed.
It has taken bit longer to establish correct timeline of the events as 1 wanted to interview all building personnel involved
and review security video footage to gather correct dates and time stamps. Timeline of the events is as follows:
June 7th 2021
• Building maintenance received alarm from Dewatering System Sump Pumps.
• Building maintenance found one breaker tripped and second pump not running. Checked pump controller and
determined there was an electrical issue with both pumps.
• Placed service call with pump vendor, A&W Electric. Vendor made it to site in the afternoon and confirmed that
sump pumps are either having electrical issue or have failed. Vendor needed to schedule additional technicians to
remove pumps from the sump for troubleshooting.
• Building team starts conducting frequent dewatering sump checks to monitor water level.
June 8th 2021
• Met with pump vendor on site to go over plan of action. Vendor communicated need to lower water level in the
sump prior to pulling pumps out to have them checked. Vendor is sourcing small sump pump and enough hose to
reach sanitary sewer sump on B2 level.
• Building team maintains frequent dewatering sump water level checks
June 9th 2021
• A&W Electric deployed temporary sump pump into dewatering sump and ran hose to sanitary sewer drain in
mechanical room on B2 level. We started pumping water from dewatering sump into sanitary sewer sump around
9:30am.
• Unfortunately, I was unaware of the Section 23-79 (b)(14) of the City's Sewer Use Ordinance, therefore I did not
reach out to Charlotte Water to seek approval. Had I known that City prohibits discharges of groundwater to the
sanitary sewer system, I would not even consider sanitary sewer as an option.
• Building team maintains frequent dewatering slunp water level checks.
June 10t1' 2021
• Around 4pm, A&W Electric pulled both permanent sump pumps out of the sump and took them to their shop for
troubleshooting. We decided to leave temporary sump pump in the sump to prevent groundwater from
overflowing and reaching storm drains in the area nearby.
• Building team maintains frequent dewatering sump water level checks.
June 11`u' — June 13th 2021:
• A&W Electric is troubleshooting failed purnps at their shop. No other work is being done on site.
• Building team maintains frequent dewatering sump water level checks.
June 14`1' 2021
• A&W Electric have determined that failed sump pumps require complete re -build or replacement. In the interest
of time I've instructed vendor to order replacement right away and expedite delivery.
• Building team maintains frequent dewatering sump water level checks.
June 15th 2021

• I've met with our ORC, Chris Orrell around 2pm, during weekly dewatering system monitoring service and
explained what is happening with dewatering system.
• He advised me that he needed to inform Edward Watson with NCDEQ about pumps being off-line. 1 asked him to
let us know if there is anything else we need to do.
• At 4:35pm I received e-mail from Chris Orrell advising me to reach out to Bill Gintert, Environmental
Compliance Manager with Charlotte Water.
• I called Mr. Gintert at 4:50pm and informed him about what we are doing. He advised me that Charlotte Water
does not allow ground water to be discharged into sanitary sewer. As an alternative, he suggested that we have
sump pumped out and water disposed of by one of the local environmental vendors who is equipped to provide
this type of service.
• I apologized for discharging ground water into sanitary sewer and told him that we will stop immediately.
Building maintenance removed the sump pump from the sump right after ] got off the phone. Sump pump was
unplugged and removed at 5:30pm. I e-mailed Mr. Gintert to let him know it was done.
• I contacted Eric Donnelly with Heric Solutions to see if he can source temporary sump pump capable of enough
head to pump water from the dewatering sump, through filter vessels. Eric was confident that he can locate the
pump and have it installed the following day.
June 16`1' 2021
• Building maintenance prepared connection point at the dewatering pipe located right outside the sump. This pipe
connects dewatering sump pump discharge with inlet side of filter vessels.
• Temporary sump pump was delivered and installed around 5pm. At 6pm we confirmed water flow through filter
vessels. Water was flowing at the rate of 33.8 gpm.
• I've asked Eric Donnelly to see if he can source replacement pumps for us as well.
We have not contacted Charlotte Water at any time prior to me reaching out to Mr. Gintert on June 15th and did not have
approval to discharge groundwater into sanitary sewer. Had I known that was not allowed, I would certainly not even
consider it as an option. My focus was to keep ground water away from storm drains and to have pumps repaired and back
on-line as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, water meter was not installed on temporary hose therefore I do not have exact quantity of ground water
discharged to sanitary sewer. Small sump pump used to pump water is residential grade, %2 HP sewage pump. Judging by
visual observation, I would estimate water flow at around 20-25 gpm. If my estimate is correct, assuming pump was
running 100% of the time, we would have pumped total of 228,000 gallons of ground water into sanitary sewer over 152
hour period.
According to our daily dewatering system log, permanent sump pumps pump average of 39,650 gallons of ground water
per day. Using this average as a guide, assuming small sump pump we used was capable of pumping at the same rate
permanent sump pumps do and was running 100% of the time, we would have discharged 251,104 gallons of ground
water into sanitary sewer over period of 152 hours.
In order to prevent this incident from happening again, we will do the following:
• Reach out to ORC any time dewatering system is not functioning as designed and ask for guidance. This
communication needs to be immediate as soon as issue is discovered. Building maintenance staff has already been
briefed.
• Post signage on dewatering pump controller and at the pump room where sanitary sewer is located informing
building personnel that untreated ground water shall not be discharged into storm water system or sanitary sewer
system.
• Purchase spare sump pumps to have replacement pumps available at all times. This will cut sump pump
replacement timeline from days to hours.
I'd like to offer sincere apologies to all of you for mistake I've made. We will do our very best to do better going forward.
Please let me know if there is any additional info I may assist with.
Best regards,
2

Dragan Nesic
CHIEF ENGINEER I Cousins Properties
1515 South Tryon St 1 Charlotte, NC 28203 I P: 704-448-8317 I C: 704-421-3374
From: Watson, Edward M <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 11:37 AM
To: Chris Orrell, P.G. <[e-mail]>; Nesic, Dragan <[e-mail]>
Cc: [e-mail]; Pitner, Andrew <[e-mail]>; Bell, Wes <[e-mail]>
Subject: Dimensional Place Permit NC0089656
Chris,
Based on email communication between Dragan Nesick of Dimensional Place and Bill Gintert of Charlotte Water. The
MRO is requesting that a 5-Day report be submitted describing the incident including a timeline of events. This can be
done in the form of an email by the permittee on company letterhead.
Please provide a detailed account of the date the pump first failed and the date that the flow was diverted to the
Sanitary Sewer line.
Please describe the steps Dimensional Place is planning to implement to resolve the issue and prevent future
occurrences from happening.
• The report should include, the daily flow from the system that was diverted to the Sewer line.
• The total volume diverted to the sewer line.
• Include to date and time that flow to the sewer line ceased.
• The report should also include communications with Charlotte Water regarding the diversion of flow into the
Sanitary Sewer lines. Please indicate who at Charlotte Water was contacted, what time Charlotte Water was
contacted, and who gave approval for flow to be diverted into the sewer line.
Regards,
Edward Watson
Hydrogeologist
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Division of Water Resources
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
704 235 2199 Office
704 235 6040 Fax
704 560 0408 Cell
[e-mail]
610 E. Center Ave.
Suite 301
Mooresville, NC 28115
3

STATE -
ROY COOPER
Governor
ELIZABETH S. BISER
Secretary.
S. DANIEL SMITH NORTH CAROLINA
Director Environmental Quality
CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7018 0360 0002 2099 7958
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED:
Mr. Dragan Nesic
DC Charlotte Plaza Lllp
1515 S. Tryon St.
Charlotte, North Carolina 28203
Dear Mr. Nesic:
EP
tl
August 24, 2021
Subject: Notice of Violation
Violations of G.S. 143-215.1(a) and
NPDES Permit No. NC0089626
Failure to Provide Proper Operation and Maintenance/
Unauthorized bypass of wastewater
Dimensional Place
Tracking #: NOV-2021-PC-0424
Mecklenburg County
Chapter 143, Article 21 of the North Carolina General Statutes (G.S.) authorizes and directs the Environmental
Management Commission of the Department of Environmental Quality to protect and preserve the water resources of the
State. The Division of Water Resources (DWR) has the delegated authority to enforce adopted water pollution control rules
and regulations.
On June 15, 2021, a DC Charlotte Plaza (DCCP) representative reported to this Office that approximately 73,440
gallons of untreated groundwater/wastewater were discharged into Charlotte Water's sanitary sewer system from June 15,
2021 through June 16, 2021. DCCP's groundwater remediation system (NPDES Permit No. NC0089626) was bypassed
due to inoperable influent sump pumps. DCCP had not applied for or secured authorization to bypass the treatment system
from the Division.
Please be advised that G.S. 143-215.6A provides for a civil penalty assessment of not more than twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000.00), or twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) per day when the violation is of a continuing
nature, against any person who violates or fails to act in accordance with the terms, conditions, or requirements of
any permit issued pursuant to G.S. 143-215.1. Penalties may also be assessed for any damage to the surface waters of
the State that may result from the unpermitted discharge.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
Mooresville Regional Office 1610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301 I Mooresville, North Carolina 28115
704.663.1699

Page Two
August 24, 2021
It is requested that a written response be submitted to this Office by September 24, 2021, detailing the actions taken
to address these violations. In responding, please send your response to the attention of Mr. Edward Watson.
Should you have any questions concerning this Notice, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Watson at (704) 235-
2199, or via email at edward.watson(cr�ncdenr.gov.
Sincerely,
DocuSigned by:
A14CC681 AF27425...
W. Corey Basinger, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
cc: Chris Orrell, ECS Limited (via email)
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
Mooresville Regional Office 1610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301 I Mooresville, North Carolina 28115
704.663.1699