WQCS00110_Remission (Request)_20230214

Town of Clayton USPS CERTIFIED MAIL
PO Box 879
Clayton, NC 27528
9214 8901 9403 8303 5858 86
DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES
ATTN: PERCS BRANCH
1617 MAIL SERVICE CTR
RALEIGH NC 27699-1617
RECEIVED
r
FEB 14 7023
Postage: $7.3600

JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST
Case Number: DV-2023-0004
Assessed Party: Town of Clayton
Permit No.: WQCS00110
County: Johnston
Amount Assessed: $1,538.85
Please use this form when requesting remission of this civil penalty. You must also complete the "Request For Remission,
Waiver of Right to an Administrative Hearing, and Stipulation of Facts" form to request remission of this civil penalty.
You should attach any documents that you believe support your request and are necessary for the Director to consider in
evaluating your request for remission. Please be aware that a request for remission is limited to consideration of the five
factors listed below as they may relate to the reasonableness of the amount of the civil penalty assessed. Requesting
remission is not the proper procedure for contesting whether the violation(s) occurred or the accuracy of any of the factual
statements contained in the civil penalty assessment document. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143B-282.1(c), remission of a civil
penalty maybe granted only when one or more of the following five factors apply. Please check each factor that you
believe applies to your case and provide a detailed explanation, including copies of supporting documents, as to why the
factor applies (attach additional pages as needed).
(a) one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors in N.C.G.S. 14313-282.1(b) were wrongfully applied to the
detriment of the petitioner (the assessment factors are listed in the civil penalty assessment document);
(b) the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation (i.e., explain the
steps that you took to correct the violation and prevent future occurrences);
X(c) the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident (i.e., explain why the violation was unavoidable or
something you could not prevent or prepare for);
(d) the violator had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations;
(e) payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary remedial actions (i.e., explain
how payment of the civil penalty will prevent you from performing the activities necessary to achieve
compliance).
EXPLANATION:
f LEA66 s r f a7 -W-00

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
COUNTY OF JOHNSTON
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT ) WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST ) ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND
STIPULATION OF FACTS
Town of Clayton )
Clayton Collection System )
PERMIT NO. WQCS00110 ) CASE NO. DV-2023-0004
Having been assessed civil penalties totaling $1,538.85 for violation(s) as set forth in the assessment document of the
Division of Water Resources dated January 23. 2023, the undersigned, desiring to seek remission of the civil penalty, does
hereby waive the right to an administrative hearing in the above -stated matter and does stipulate that the facts are as
alleged in the assessment document. The undersigned further understands that all evidence presented in support of
remission of this civil penalty must be submitted to the Director of the Division of Water Resources within thirty (30) days
of receipt of the notice of assessment. No new evidence in support of a remission request will be allowed after (30) days
from the receipt of the notice of assessment.
This the _ c� day of , 20-;?,S
SIGNA RE
ADDRESS
si��n ..uc a>5ag
TELEPHONE /a/

ATTACHMENT A
Town of Clayton
CASE NUMBER: DV-2023-0004
PERMIT NO:
WQCS00110
REGION: Raleigh
FACILITY:
Clayton Collection System
COUNTY: Johnston
Other Violations
INCIDENT
VIOLATION
TOTAL VOLUME
NUMBER
DATE VIOLATION TYPE
VIOLATION DESCRIPTION (GALLONS)
202201071
7/7/2022 CSO/SSO(Sewer Overflow)
Discharge without valid permit 2,100
202201187 7/27/2022 CSO/SSO(Sewer Overflow) Discharge without valid permit 95,900
PENALTY
AMOUNT
$0.00
$1,500.00

MAYOR
Jody L. McLeod
MAYOR PRO TEM
Jason Thompson
TOWN MANAGER
Richard D. Cappola, Jr.
TOWN ATTORNEY
Cauley Pridgen, P.A.
Attn: PERCS Branch
Division of Water Resources
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1617
Mr. Scott Vinson, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Raleigh Regional Office,
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
1628 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1628
SUBJECT: Case No. DV-2023-0004
Town of Clayton Collection System Permit Number WQCS00110
Request for Remission of Civil Penalties
Dear Mr. Vinson:
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Andria Archer
Porter Casey
Avery Everett
Michael Sims
The following is in response to the Notice of Violation and Assessment of Civil Penalty letter dated
January 23, 2023, received by the Town of Clayton (Town) on February 2, 2023, pertaining to incident
number 202201187. The Town formally requests remission of the assessed $1,538.85 civil penalty based
on "the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation" and
"the violation was inadvertent or result of an accident."
The subject Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) was caused by a private contractor, Providence
Construction, hired by the Town to work on the Little Creek Outfall project to replace and upsize deficient
gravity sewer lines coming into the Little Creek WRF as part of the Town's Capital Improvement Plan. The
bid advertisement for the Little Creek Outfall project required a contractor with a General Contractors
license with one of the following classifications: Unclassified, Public Utilities Contractor, Public Utilities
(Water Purification and Sewage Disposal) and/or Public Utilities (Water Lines and Sewer Lines).
Providence Construction's (contractor) scope included pipe removal and replacement as well as the
contractual obligation to bypass the existing flow during construction. The executed contract documents
specifically stated, "Contractor is responsible for all bypass pumping required to construct the project as
shown." (Summary of Work —1.03 — C) Contract documents further required contractor to "Provide 24/7
monitoring of the operational pumps." (Unit Prices — 1.20). Additionally, contract documents included
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provisions to which the contractor was to abide by in the event of a spill including, but not limited to,
taking immediate action to contain the spill, and notifying the owner (Supplemental Conditions). The
Town held a pre -construction meeting on May 13, 2022, and the bypass plan requirements were discussed
in detail. Furthermore, staff reiterated the contractor's obligations to carry out bypass operations without
spills. In additional to routine monitoring and oversight by Town staff, the Town hired a third -party
consultant to assist with the contract administration and help the Town closely monitor the contractor's
sequencing and methods.
During an overnight bypass operation on the final segment of the Little Creek Outfall project, the
primary bypass pump suffered a mechanical failure and subsequently the secondary bypass pump failed
to start due to a float system failure. As previously noted, the bypass plan and contract documents
required the contractor to have 24-hour pump watch, which was onsite when the mechanical failure
occurred. The contractor's personnel conducting the overnight shift of the pump watch, observed the
overflow and immediately notified his supervisor, who contacted the Town. While Town staff was
mobilizing to begin clean-up, the contractor manually started the secondary pump, which stopped the
discharge of wastewater to minimize the overflow. Upon arrival onsite, Town staff began the cleanup
process by pumping, hauling, and returning all standing wastewater back to the collections system.
Additionally, Town staff spread lime to neutralize the affected area. The following morning, Town staff
were able to perform a survey of the entire SSO area to see the full extent of the spill and noted multiple
dead fish immediately downstream of the spill within Little Creek. To remove any remaining spill from the
creek, Town staff mobilized two (2) portable bypass pumps and set up in several locations in the creek
downstream of the spill location. During the pumping of the creek, Town staff flushed fresh, dechlorinated
water into the creek upstream of the spill location. All water pumped out of the creek was pumped
directly into the collections system for proper treatment. Upon completion of cleanup and remediation,
the affected area was returned to its normal state with no further harm to the environment.
In response to the SSO, the Town sent a letter to the contractor on July 29, 2022, documenting
the incident, reiterating their contractual obligations, and putting the contractor on notice that failure to
comply with contract documents could lead to termination of contract (Attachment A). In response to the
spill, the contractor responded to the Town on August 15, 2022 (Attachment 13). Town staff were prepared
to terminate the contract with Providence Construction; however, since the contractor was working on
the final segment of pipe staff determined it best to allow the current contractor to complete the final
segment and remove the bypass set up to reduce to risk of any future SSO. Town staff documented the
issues with this contractor and deemed them not responsible when considering future contracts.
The violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation
Town staff acted quickly and efficiently to abate the spill and clean up the affected areas. As
previously noted, the secondary bypass pump was able to be manually started by the contractor, which
immediately stopped the flow of untreated wastewater from leaving the manhole. Multiple town staff
mobilized quickly with two Vactor trucks and began removing all standing wastewater from the spill area
and returning it back to the collections system for treatment. Once the standing wastewater was
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removed, Town staff then spread lime over the affected areas for neutralization. Town staff mobilized
two (2) portable bypass pumps to pump out Little Creek downstream of the spill location, while
subsequently flushing fresh dechlorinated water upstream of the spill location. Town staff were onsite
within an hour of notification of the spill, which was 12:37 A.M., and worked diligently until 3:30 P.M.
preventing any further harm to the environment.
The violation was inadvertent or result of an accident
Town staff understood the risks associated with working in live sewer and attempted to mitigate
those risks to the maximum extent possible. The Town required full pumping redundancy and 24/7 pump
watch. Furthermore, the Town required specific licensure of its contractors, incorporated specific contract
requirements, and hired a third -party consultant in effort to minimize the risk of causing a spill. The Town
significantly planned and prepared prior to beginning the work, however, staff can not completely
mitigate all risks of an accident under such repair and conditions. The Town staff, contractor, and sub-
contractor had implemented numerous plans to reduce clogging and maintain redundancy of equipment,
but despite all efforts, a mechanical failure occurred and with the resulting accident. The Town was being
proactive in replacing a deficient gravity sewer line to reduce risks of future SSO's from the aging sewer
line. In order to replace the deficient line, no other options than a bypass pump were available. In
conclusion, the Town planned and prepared to greatest extent possible, but was unable to mitigate all
risks and what occurred was inadvertent and accidental.
if any additional information is required, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for the attention
provided to our response.
Sincerely,
James Blalock
Maintenance Superintendent
Water Resources Department
Town of Clayton
Enclosures
Cc: Rich Cappola, PE, Town Manager
Collection System File
// ���iAvTaq
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TOWN OF CLAYTON
Engineering Department
111 E. Second St., P.O. Box 879
Clayton, NC 27528
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
July 29, 2022 Y ®-
Mr. Nick McKeel - President
Providence Construction
314 E. Main Street
Clayton, NC. 27520
Subject: Little Creek Outfall Replacement Project
Sanitary Sewer Overflow #4 — Wednesday July 27, 2022
DEQ Incident # 202201197
Dear Mr. McKeel,
At approximately 1:03 am. on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, Town of Clayton (Town) staff received
notification from Johnston County 911 of another sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) at S. Lombard Street as
part of the Little Creek Sanitary Sewer Outfall project where Providence Construction is under contract for
work replacing, relocating, and upsizing sanitary sewer infrastructure. A substantial overflow occurred
from the overflow of (2) - two manholes (TOC-MH #2406 and #148). Rain for Rent, the bypass pumping
subcontractor for Providence Construction, reported the overflow, based on primary pump failure, at
approximately 12:30 am. Upon Town staff arrival to the site and upon initial conversations, it was
determined that the primary cause of the spill was failure of the primary pump located at TOC MH 2406
along with the secondary back up pump not starting upon the primary failure.
Upon investigation by Town staff, there was a total loss of 95,900 gallons of untreated wastewater with
much of this amount reaching Little Creek and the surrounding area. Town staff responded to the site at
approximately 1:35 am. to begin clean-up efforts and conduct further investigation related to the overflow.
Due to the extent of the overflow, Town staff mobilized its (2) pump trucks in addition to numerous Town
employees, trucks, equipment, and resources to assist in the clean-up effort. While not discounting the
seriousness of the overflow or the burden of responsibility on Providence Construction, the Town is aware
Providence Construction crews and/or equipment were utilized to assist in mitigating damages.
Per North Carolina G.S. 143-215.1c (1), the Town of Clayton is required to report any discharge of
untreated wastewater to surface waters and to issue a press release if the overflow is equal to or greater than
1,000 gallons. Additionally, per North Carolina G.S. 143-215.1c (2), the Town of Clayton is required to
post a notice in the newspaper in the county in which the loss occurred as well as every downstream county
anticipated to be significantly impacted as determined by the Secretary. In accordance with statutory
requirements, a press release was issued, and a public notice was posted in Johnston County by the Town
on July 27, 2022.
Section 01270 "Unit Prices" Part 1.20, "By -Pass Pumping of Sewage" Subset "C" of the Contract states
that the contractor (Providence Construction) shall be responsible for sewage spills that occur during the
bypass pumping. This provision is also set forth in the Supplementary General Conditions, paragraphs SC-
7.10 F, G, & H. You may also refer to Addendum No. 2, Section "C" Drawing Requirements, Subset la.
dated January 27, 2021, which states `Bypass Pumping shall run 24/7. Contractor is solely responsible for
means and methods of maintaining by-pass pumping" as well as Section "D" which states "There is one
approach to the by-pass pumping included in the Drawing. The Contractor may provide their proposed plan
if different than provided." Furthermore, the contract documents require 24/7, uninterrupted monitoring of
the operational pumps. Based on the Town's initial investigation and record, this is the fourth such instance
in which similar violations of the Contract terms have occurred.

This letter is formal notice to Providence Construction of responsibility for all fines, violations, impositions,
and any obligations set forth and/or levied by State or other local authority as well as the cost of resources
utilized by the Town to clean up the spill. Furthermore, Providence Construction is to assume full
responsibility for its actions relative to this matter. Upon receiving a formal response from the State
regarding any fines to be imposed upon the Town of Clayton, the Town will provide an itemized cost
summary to Providence detailing charges incurred for mobilization, materials, equipment, and work
performed by its staff to correct the incident as well as the cost of any assessed fines. Payment of the
invoiced amounts shall be due within thirty (30) days of receipt from the Town. If notice from the State has
not been received prior to submission of the final pay application, the Town may withhold final payment
until any fines have been resolved.
The Town requests a formal written response from the President of Providence Construction be submitted
within five (5) business days from receipt of this letter, detailing how this malfunction/incident occurred,
how the incident was resolved by Providence Construction and its subcontractor, and what measures will
be implemented to ensure this type of incident does not happen again. As the permit holder for the collection
system, the Town is responsible for its collection system and must hold all contractors and/or their sub-
contractors accountable for their actions, or lack thereof, as it relates to work performed on said system.
Please be advised, this overflow and loss of untreated wastewater is the fourth incident since the start of the
project. Considering this fact, no time extensions will be granted due to this incident with the Town being
prepared to assess any liquidated damages provided the project is not completed per the ICT listed in the
contract documents. It is the expectation that your immediate attention and consideration be given to this
matter as requested. If you have any questions or if further clarification is needed, please feel free to contact
me at [phone].
Sincerely,
_e lq—
Jonathan K. Jacobs, PE
Assistant Town Engineer
Town of Clayton
Cc: Rich Cappola, PE, Interim Town Manager
Lee Barbee, Interim Deputy Town Manager
Joshua Baird, PE, Engineering Director
Byron Poelman, Water Resources Director
Don Gantt, PE, The Wooten Company
Chris Rowland, Construction Project Administrator
James Blalock, Water Resources Maintenance Superintendent
Bill Simpson, Water Reclamation Superintendent

PROVIDENCE
�.r e
August 15, 2022
Jonathan Jacobs
Town of Clayton
111 East Second Street
Clayton, NC 27520
Re: Little Creek Sewer. Outfall Bypass Pump Failure
Mr. Jacobs,
I am writing in response to your letter dated July 29, 2022 to address the concerns from the Town of
Clayton on the bypass pumping at Little Creek Sewer Outfall. As you are aware the failure happened at
the TOC MH # 2406 oh July 27; 2022. Once the failure was reported, both the Town of Clayton and
Providence Construction responded to the situation to mitigate the overflow and assist in cleanup.
I have attached a detailed report from Rain for Rent on the sequence of events that happened on July 27,
2022. The overnight -watch reported the overflow and notified associated parties, while also trying to
contain the overflow. It was determined that the primary pump blew a mechanical seal, causing the
pump to lose suction pressure. The floats on the designed float tree did not engage the backup pump and
appeared to not be working properly due to wear and tear. A new primary pump was immediately
brought onsite to replace the primary pump with the seal issue. The float tree was also replaced with
new floats.
As of today, all bypass .pumping has been removed from the project and the project is days away from
being substantially completed. There will not be any additional bypass pumping required, which will
eliminate the risk of this happening again.
Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to discuss in more detail. As previously
mentioned, I have attached the Rain for Rent documentation to this letter. Providence Construction
takes these occurrencances very seriously and is committed to having a successful project.. We
anticipate being substantially complete in August 2022.
Sincerely;
� '-f mar c-'
Nick Mckeel
President
Providence Construction
114 W Main St, Clayton, NC 27520 j 919-726-3206
r

PROVIDENCE
Cc: Chris Rowland (Town of Clayton)
Don Gantt, P.E. (The Wooten Company)
114 W Main St, Clayton, NC 27520 j 919-726 3206

5101 Office Park Drive, Suite 100
Bakersfield, CA 93309
July 27, 2022
Paul Smart
Providence Construction
114 W Main Street
Clayton; NC 27520
RE: Little Creek Outfall Sewer Line Replacement Project Incident
Mr. Smart:
This sequence of events is regarding the incident that occurred during the Little Creek Outfall Sewer
Line Replacement Project on Thursday, July 27, 2022, at the Clayton Water Reclamation Facility
(WRF) in Clayton, NC, resulting in a sanitary sewer overflow.
Pump watch began at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, by Maintech.
Sequence of events below provided by Maintech owner Dana Howe and confirmed by Rain for Rent:
• 12:17am - Maintech owner Dana Howe received call from Tracy (night shift pump watch)
indicating discharge manhole was overflowing on bypass beside storage facility
• 12:20am - Called Alex Ruiz with RfR to let him know what was happening
• 12:26am - Called Tracy back and told him to shut the primary pump off discharging into the
manhole. Overflow stopped at this point.
• 12:33am - Called Dario Catallo for an update and let him know I was on the way to job site.
Confirmed he was ok with me calling James Blaylock at Town of Clayton for an update
• 12:37am - Called James Blaylock and left a voice mail indicating spill
• 12:39am - Verified pumps were off at bypass at storage facility and sewer wasn't coming out
of manhole. Tracy confirmed it stopped overflowing when he shut the pumps off at
12:26am.
• 12:47am - Called Dario and let him know I was on the way to the job.
• 12:49am - Spoke to Tracy about both bypasses and confirmed primary pump on original
bypass in field was running. Tracy indicated level in manhole at storage facility was rising,
I told him to leave pumps off.
• 1:07am - Left voicemail for James at Clayton to give an update and let him know I was 10
min from job
• 1:15am - Onsite and began to access layout. Alex pulled in behind me and indicated he had
gotten Claytons emergency contact number and spoke to dispatcher requesting vac
trucks.
• 1:30am - Steve with Town of Clayton arrived, and we began pulling manhole lids to identify
source of backup
• 1:45am - Found primary pump on original bypass wasn't pumping, started back up pump
and began pulling water level down immediately. Began trouble shooting primary pump
not priming with Alex and found no definitive issue. Alex and Dario determined pump
would be swapped in the morning

F.
- - 5101 Office Park Drive, Suite 100
a7Bakersfield, CA 93309
• 2:25am -Bypass by the storage building was turned back on. No visible spill from suction
manhole at this location. Original bypass was left running with the backup pump running
manually
• 2:30am -Began assisting Town of Clayton with cleanup efforts
• 8:30 am - Rain for Rent installed replacement primary pump
It was determined the primary pump blew a mechanical seal, causing the pump to lose suction
pressure. The floats on the designed "float tree" did not engage the backup pump and appeared to
be not operating due to "wear & tear".
If you have any questions regarding this incident, please feel free to contact me at
[e-mail].
Sincerely,
Dario Catallo
Branch Manager
3