NC0003433_Inspection Report_20220707

J

July 7, 2022

Ms. Jessica Bednarcik, Senior Vice President
Environmental Health and Safety, CCP
[e-mail]
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
526 S Church St.
Mail Code Ec13k
Charlotte, NC 28201-1002

Subject: Compliance Evaluation Inspection
Cape Fear Steam Electric Power Plant
NPDES Permit No. NC0003433
Chatham County

Dear Ms. Bednarcik

On June 8, 2022, Jason Robinson and Alys Hannum of the Division of Water Resources’ Raleigh
Regional Office (RRO) conducted a compliance evaluation inspection of the subject facility. The
assistance provided by Jonathan Stamas (Operator in Responsible Charge – ORC), Joyce Dishmon
(Permitting and Compliance), and John Toepher (Environmental Engineer) was appreciated.

The NPDES Compliance inspection consisted of the following:

x Review of the NPDES permit
x Review of the owner/facility information
x Review of monitoring data and Electronic Discharge Monitoring Reports (eDMRs)
x Review of operator logbook
x Walk-thru inspection of the outfalls

Finding during the pre-inspection were as follows:

1. The recent permit became effective October 1, 2020 and expires on June 30, 2023. If the
permit is not rescinded prior to expiration, please submit a permit renewal application at
least 180 days prior to expiration to comply with permit requirements.

2. The facility entered into a Special Order of Consent (SOC) on January 27, 2020. The SOC
involves a Corrective Action Plan to address seeps.










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3. The facility is classified as a PC-1 Wastewater Facility. Mr. Jonathan Stamas is designated as
the Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) and Robert Howard and Jaquelin Wilson are the
designated back-up operators (bORC). All are certified Grade 1 operators.

4. DWR last inspected this facility for NPDES compliance in December 2020.

5. No DMR violations have occurred since the last inspection.

6. Prior to 2012, the facility employed two coal-fired units along with four oil-fueled combustion
turbine units. Residuals generated from coal combustion were stored in on-site ash basins.
The plant ceased operations in 2012, and demolition activities of the plant have been
completed. The site has five ash basins: 1956, 1963, 1970, 1978 and 1985. The 1956, 1963
and 1970 basins are dry and vegetated, except for the southern end of the 1970 basin that is
seasonally wet. All wastewater generated by the site were discharged to the discharge canal
at Outfall 007. A new Outfall 008 was added to the permit to allow for releases to the Cape
Fear River associated with basin closures, and Outfall 008a and 008b were added for
emergency discharge and emergency overflow. An ash beneficiation facility became
operational in 2021 to convert the residuals to fly ash material for use in the production of
concrete. This facility is located beside the existing site.

7. The facility reported effluent discharges at Outfall 008 for all months in 2020 except for
January and August. In 2021, the facility only reported effluent discharges at 008 in January,
February, and July. As of this inspection, the facility only reported one 2022 discharge from
Outfall 008 in April. The permittee is compliant with the self-monitoring requirements of the
permit.

Findings during the inspection were as follows:

1. Daily operation logbooks were available for review. The books were detailed and complete
and kept onsite going back at least three years.

2. Upstream and downstream samples are collected by Duke Environmental Services and sent to
Pace Labs for analyzation:

x Instream samples are analyzed at Pace’s Asheville laboratory, Certification #40.
x Instream and dewatering Mercury are analyzed at Pace’s South Carolina laboratory
(#329).
x Dewatering field samples are analyzed by Pace Field Services (#5342).

Duke Energy Progress -HEEC collects and analyzes instream field samples (#5710).
.
Outfall 008 samples are collected by Pace Field Services and sent to the Duke McGuire lab:
x Oil & Grease, turbidity, Al, As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Se are analyzed by Duke (#248).
x TSS and Mercury are analyzed by Pace labs.

Toxicity is collected by Duke and analyzed by ETT Environmental, Inc. (#22)










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3. Laboratory Bench sheets, chain of custody forms and lab results for December 2021 and April
2022 were reviewed and found to be complete. Bench sheet values were compared to the
Electronic Discharge Monitoring Reports (eDMR) submitted by the permittee and no
discrepancies were found. Past laboratory documents are kept on site (required to keep at
least five years). Chronic Toxicity is sample monthly (in months where discharges occur)

4. Outfalls 001, 005, 007, 008, 008a & 008b were visited. Outfall 008 on the Cape Fear River is
the only active discharge (see Item 6 above). The facility has been dewatering from the 1978
and 1985 basins since November 12, 2019. Water from the two ash ponds is pumped and
treated at the on-site treatment facility before being discharge at Outfall 008. Flow meters
are located at the discharge of the 1978 and 1985 basin, and at Outfall 008. The outfalls
appeared to be in good condition, and the right of ways were properly maintained. The
facility was not discharging at the time of the inspection.

The inspector did not observe any issues of concern during this inspection. The facility appeared well
maintained, and documentation was found to be detailed, organized, and complete.

Thank you again for your cooperation with this inspection. If you have any questions regarding the
report or any of the findings, please contact Jason Robinson at [e-mail].

Sincerely,

Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Raleigh Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ

ATTACHMENTS

x EPA Inspection Checklist

Cc: Raleigh Regional Office and Laserfiche
[e-mail]
[e-mail]














 


  



7/8/2022