NC0023868_Plan of Action_19900808

State of North Carolina
Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources
Division of Environmental Management
512 North Salisbury Street • Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
James G. Martin, Governor George T. Everett, Ph.D.
William W. Cobey, Jr., Secretary
August 8, 1990
Mr. Stephen R. Shoaf
Utilities Administrator/Field Operations
Box 1358
Burlington, NC 27216
Subject: Instream Monitoring Requirements for the Burlington Southside WWTP
(NPDES No. NC0023876, Alamance Creek)
Dear Mr. Shoat
Director
The Division of Environmental Management (DEM) has reviewed your comments regarding the instream
monitoring requirements contained in the subject permit. DEM staff also traveled to the Haw River on July 31, 1990,
to investigate the proposed monitoring sites, and concur with the difficulties you mentioned in your July 23 letter.
Based on the available information, the NPDES permit will be amended to include the following instream monitoring
requirements:
1. Alamance Creek, upstream of the discharge, at the NC Highway 87 bridge.
2. Alamance Creek near it's mouth at the SR 2116 bridge.
These sites should be sampled all year for temperature, DO, fecal coliform, conductivity, and color, and should
include TP and PO4 in July through September. Frequency of instream monitoring will be three times per week
during June, July, August, and September, and once per week during the remaining months of the year. In addition,
weekly monitoring will be required at the following sites during the months of July, August, and September:
1. Three locations in Saxapahaw Lake (upper, middle, and lower; see attached map), depth
integrated at one meter intervals. Parameters include temperature, DO, conductivity, pH,
TP, and PO4. Chlorophyll a should be measured once a month at these sites.
2. Downstream of Saxapahaw Dam at the SR 2171 bridge. Sampling should be done in
both the east and west channels of the river as long as there is flow in both channels.
Parameters include temperature, DO, conductivity, and pH.
3. At the SR 1005 bridge. Parameters include temperature, DO, conductivity, and pH.
These summer monitoring requirements will not be effective until July 1, 1991, to give the City ample time
to make the necessary arrangements. The sites on Alamance Creek, however, are effective immediately upon receipt of
this letter. As you have noticed, the upstream site on the Haw River near Swepsonville and the site downstream of the
confluence of Alamance Creek and the Haw River have both been dropped due to the lack of adequate sampling
accessibility. The frequency of monitoring at the lower three sites has been changed.
Pollution Prevention Pays
P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-7687 Telephone [phone]
An Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer

The monitoring sites in and below Saxapahaw Lake are required only in the summer months when flows are
low and water quality problems would be most expected. The data generated will serve two purposes. First, it will
provide an indication of the water quality of the lake, the effect of the dam on water quality, and the magnitude of the
subsequent DO sag below Saxapahaw. Although Dixie Yams does discharge below the dam, it is a very small volume
of domestic wastewater which will have very little to no effect on instream kinetics when compared to the large
discharges upstream, such as the two Burlington WWTPs.
The data gathered during the summers at the lower three sites will also serve to determine the impact, if any,
of the proposed Southside WWTP expansion on the downstream water quality. Gathered over time, these will reflect
any changes caused by an increase of wasteflow. Since no data in this area currently exist, and since the expansion has
already been approved by the Director, these requirements are justified to provide a retrospective evaluation of water
quality in the area.
Monitoring in the lake will require the use of a boat; the City will have to work with the Boy Scout Camp to
gain regular access to an acceptable boat ramp. Because the data are most useful at low flows, and because boating
may not be possible at high flows, monitoring at the lake sites will only be required when the streamflow at the
USGS gage 02096500 at Haw River, North Carolina, is less than or equal to 350 cfs. This gage is a telemetric
station, so the City can easily follow the daily flows by telephoning the gage itself. If you need assistance in
establishing a flow tracking system, you should contact either DEM or USGS. It is expected that flow in the Haw
River will usually meet the criteria, except after heavy rain events.
In closing, I would also like to remind you that long-term BOD will be required at some or all of the instream
monitoring sites when a standard procedure for it's measurement is formally adopted. If you have any questions or
comments regarding the permit modifications, please contact Trevor Clements or Mike Scoville of my staff at (919)
733-5083.
Sincerely,
Steve W. Tedder, Chief
Water Quality Section
cc: Larry Coble
Trevor Clements
Mike Scoville
Don Safrit
Central Files
Pollution Prevention Pays
P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-7687 Telephone [phone]
An Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer

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