NC0029131_NOV-2022-LV-0892 Response_20230112

Strickland, Bev
From: Andy Mathews <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2023 5:50 AM
To: Manuel, Vanessa; Jerry Branch; Robinson, Jason; Michael Overton
Subject: [External] Kittrell Job Corps Center (NOV-2022-LV-0892)
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To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to you all in response to the Notice of Violation referenced above for the Kittrell Job Corps Center
WWTP. On 9/13/2022, we were out of compliance for Fecal Coliform. During the time of this violation, there was one
consistent factor that I believe caused the deficiency; however, it had nothing to do with the quality of our effluent or
the performance of our treatment process.
As a contract operator, I am responsible for multiple treatment plants within our region. At the time of this deficiency, I
was dealing with two different labs because some plants were using Meritech and some were using Environmental
Chemists. This made it very difficult for me as the operator to meet with each lab driver. As a result, there were times
when the lab drivers had to leave my sample kits outside at each site. Unfortunately, there were instances where these
kits were rained on, and I even found my bottles floating in rain water inside of the coolers the following day. If the tops
were not tightly sealed on each sample container, this could have caused contamination prior to collecting the
samples. This caused issues at other sites as well; therefore, I have since converted all of my treatment plants to one
laboratory. This makes it possible to collect samples at multiple sites and have one laboratory pickup for all sites. This
has also made it much easier to meet the driver each week and collect my sample kits where I can control the way in
which they are stored, to prevent possible contamination due to external factors.
I am pleased to report that we have not had any issues of non-compliance since these changes were implemented. If
you have any questions or concerns regarding this explanation or simply need to discuss this process further, please feel
free to call me directly or contact me by email.
Sincerely,
Andy L. Mathews
Mathews Environmental Services
[phone]
[e-mail]
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