WQCS00013_NOV-2023-DV-0341 Response_20230926

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CARY
-LIVE INSPIRED --
September 25, 2023
Ms. Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Raleigh Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
1628 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1628
Subject: _Notice of Violation (NOV-2023-DV-0341)
Dear Ms. Manuel:
CERTIFIED MAIL
On September 14, 2023 the Cary Utilities Department received a Notice of Violation (NOV)
letter dated September 6, 2023 from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality,
Division of Water Resources — Raleigh Regional Office for a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO)
that occurred on August 16, 2023. The NOV letter identifies the August 16 SSO as an NOV
and requests written response from Cary to provide additional information within 15 business
days from receipt of the letter.
Incident #
202301183
Start Date Duration Location Cause Total Total Volume DWR
(min) Volume Surface Water Action
(Gal (Gal)
8/16/2023 15 1724 White Oak I Other 1,500 0 Notice of
Church Rd, Apex, Violation
27523
Cary takes pride in the operation and management of our 1,000 miles of wastewater collection
system. We are an award winning and progressive wastewater utility that has very few
reportable or large volume SSO. We place emphasis on responding quickly to sewer
emergencies to prevent and minimize any spills that impact our citizens, community, and
environment. We appreciate the opportunity to provide information on the recent sewer
overflow, our efforts, and justification for why additional enforcement action or civil penalty
should not be assessed to Cary.
INCIDENT # 202301183 —1724 White Oak Church Rd.
Sewer Overflow Cause - On August 16, 2023 at 8:15 AM, Cary staff received a call from a
contractor that was installing gravity sewer for a new development, saying that they hit an
unmarked 6 inch ductile iron force main serving Cary's Weddington Wastewater Pump Station
with an excavator. Cary staff immediately responded by stopping operations at the
Weddington Pump Station to mitigate flow through the force main and responded to the area
where the damage occurred to assess. Upon arrival, staff observed the discharged sewer
919.469.4000 1 carync.gov
PO Box 8005 Cary, NC 27512

from the force main was fully contained in the contractors excavation pit. The contractor did
not have an active 811 locate ticket called in for utilities to be marked prior to excavation.
Sewer Spill Cleanup — Cleanup was performed by a Cary crew utilizing a vacuum truck. The
crew vacuumed the sewer from the excavation pit and discharged back into Cary's sanitary
sewer system.
Sewer Spill Assessment — The 1500-gallon sewer spill from the force main was contained
in the excavation pit. No fish kill or visible environmental impacts were identified following
the spill and spill cleanup.
Corrective Actions — After Cary's crew vacuumed all the sewer in the excavation pit, the
contractor obtained repair parts the same day and made a complete and permanent repair to
the force main. Cary personnel spoke with the contractor and expressed the requirement
and importance of having an active 811 locate ticket for any excavation.
We appreciate the opportunity in being able to provide information on this unfortunate sewer
spill. We appreciate NC DEQ's consideration in evaluating this sewer spill, the cause, and
Cary's record and response to remediate and help ensure that a SSO reoccurrence does not
reoccur at this location. If we can answer any questions or provide any additional information,
please feel free to contact Mr. Chad Lemke, Wastewater Collections System ORC at (919)
469-4571.
Sincerely,
..J
lamie Revels, P.E.
Utilities Director
Cc: Donald Smith, Wastewater Collection System Manager
Paul Campbell, Wastewater Collection System Operator
Chad Lemke, Wastewater Collection System ORC
Attachments:
• NCDEQ Notice of Violation to issue Civil Penalty — NOV-2023-DV-0341
• Collection System Sanitary Sewer Overflow 5-Day Report — Incident #
202301183
c A P J 2

DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E9BFOFA-94CO-4985-BDDB-OAB24E5BED49
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ROY COOPER r ,�
Gotonrr _ "!
ELIZABETH S. BISER
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RICHARD E. ROGERS, JR. nvir H nfa[ L alit
Environmental Quality
Df n rrar
Certified Mail # 7020 3160 0000 4115 0172
Return Receipt Rgguested
September 06, 2023
Jamie Revels, Director Utilities
Town of Cary
PO Box 8005
Cary, NC 27512-8005
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION
Tracking Number: NOV-2023-DV-0341
Sanitary Sewer Overflows - August 2023
Collection System Permit No. WQCS00013
Cary Collection System
Wake County
Dear Permittee:
The self -reported Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) 5-Day Report submitted by Town of Cary indicates violations of
permit conditions stipulated in the subject permit and North Carolina G.S. 143-215.1. Violations include failing to
effectively manage, maintain, and operate the subject collection system so that there is no SSO to the land or
surface waters and making an outlet to waters of the State for purposes of G.S. 143-215.1(a)(1), for which a
permit is required.
Specific incident(s) cited in the subject report include the following:
Total Vol
Total Surface
Incident Start Duration Vol Water
Number Date (Mina) Location Cause (Gals) (Gals)
202301183 8/16/2023 15 1724 WHITE OAK Other 1,500 0
CHURCH ROAD, APEX,
,27523
DWR Action
Notice of Violation

DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E98FOFA-94C0-4985-BDDB-OAB24E5BED49
Remedial actions, if not already implemented, should be taken to correct the above noncompliance. Please submit
a written response to this Notice of Violation. Your response is to be received by the regional office within 15
business day following receipt of this violation. Please include any additional documentation about this incident(s)
in the response. The submittal will be considered in determining whether the Division will assess a civil penalty for
the cited violations.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin Fowler with the Water Quality Section in the
Raleigh Regional Office at 919-791-4200 or via email at [e-mail].
Cc: Laserfische
Sincerely,
IuQvcu9iyYlctl Cy:
Atn t ssa. f . �l.aWi))A
142918a8A332144F.
Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Raleigh Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
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Division of Water Resources
PART I:
State of North Carolina
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Division of Water Resources
Collection System Sanitary Sewer Overflow Reporting Form
Form CS-SSO
This form shall be submitted to the appropriate DWQ Regional Office within five business days of the first knowledge of the
sanitary sewer overflow (SSO).
Permit Number: WQCS00013
Facility: Cary Collection System
Owner: Town of Cary
City: Ca
Source of SSO (check applicable):
(WQCS# if active, otherwise use WQCSD#)
County: Wake
Region: Raleigh
Q Sanitary Sewer ❑ Pump Station / Lift Station
Incident #: 202301183
SPECIFIC location of the SSO (be consistent in description from past reports or documentation - i.e. Pump Station 6,
Manhole at Westall & Bragg Street, etc): 1724 WHITE OAK CHURCH ROAD, APEX, , 27523
Manhole #:
Latitude (Decimal Degrees):
Incident Started Dt: 08/16/2023 Time
(mm-dd-yyyy)
Estimated Volume of the SSO: 1,500
Longitude (Decimal Degrees):
8:15 am
(hh:mm AM/PM)
Incident End Dt: 08/16/2023 Time:
(mm-dd-yyyy)
gallons Estimated Duration (Round to nearest hour):
Describe how the volume was determined: Volume accumulated in excavation pit
Weather conditions during the SSO event: Sunny
Did SSO reach surface waters?
Surface water name:
08:30 am
(hh:mm AM/PM)
0:15 hours
❑ Yes Q No ❑ Unknown Volume reaching surface waters (gals): 0
Did the SSO result in a fish kill? ❑ Yes ONo ❑ Unknown If Yes, what is the estimated number of fish killed?
SPECIFIC cause(s) of the SSO:
Q Other (Please explai
24 hour verbal notification (name of person contacted ): Timothy Clark
2 DWR ❑ Emergency Mgmt Date (mm-dd-yyy):
08/16/2023
Time (hh:mm AM/PM): 03:00:00 pm
If an SSO is ongoing, please notify the appropriate Regional Office on a daily basis until SSO can be stopped.
Per G.S. 143-215.1 C(b), the responsible party of a discharge of 1,000 or more of untreated wastewater to surface waters
shall issue a press release within 24-hours of first knowledge to all print and electronic news media providing general
coverage in the county where the discharge occurred. When 15,000 gallons or more of untreated wastewater enters surface
waters, a public notice shall be published within 10 days and proof of publication shall be provided to the Division within 30
days. Refer to the reference statute for further detail.
The Director Division of Water Resources may take enforcement action for SSOs that are required to be reported to
Division unless it is demonstrated that:
1) the discharge was cause by sever natural conditions and there were no feasible alternative to the discharge; or
2) the discharge was exceptional, unintentional, temporary and caused by factors beyond the reasonable control of the
Permittee and/or owner, and the discharge could not have been prevented by the exercise of reasonable control.
Part II must be completed to provide a justification claim for either of the above situations. This information will be the basis
WHETHER OR NOT PART III 1S COMPLETED A SIGNATURE IS REQUIRED AT THE END OF THIS FORM
CS-SSO Form Page: 1

PART II:
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS FOR EACH RELATED CAUSE CHECKED IN PART I OF THIS FORM AND
INCLUDE THE APPROPRIATE DOCUMENTATION AS REQUIRED OR DESIRED
COMPLETE ONLY THOSE SECTONS PERTAINING TO THE CAUSE OF THE SSO AS CHECKED IN PART I
(In the check boxes below, NA = Not Applicable and NE = Not Evaluated)
A HARDCOPY OF THIS FORM SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE APPROPRIATE DWR REGIONAL OFFICE UNLESS IS
Other Please explain in Part II
Describe:
Utility contractor working to install a new gravity sewer line in a new development struck an active 6inch ductile iron force
main. Contractor did not obtain utiIit locates prior to diggin . A Portion of the force main contents leaked into excavation
hole. All wastewater resided in the excavation. No discharge to waters of the state.
Were adequate equipment and resources available to fix the problem?
Yes No ❑ NA ❑ NE
If Yes, explain:
Contractor obtained repair parts the same day and made a complete and permanent repair to the force main. A vacuum
truck was used to remove all wastewater and return it to the sewers stem for disposal and treatment. Cary managed the
wastewater pump station to prevent a discharge while repairs were made.
If the problem could not be immediately repaired, what actions were taken to lessen
the impact of the SSO'}
An immediate re air was made to the force main.
Comments:
The contractor was required to obtain utifity locates prior to any additional digging was allowed.
System Visitation
ORC
Backup
Name:
Chad Lemke
Cert#
1000563
Date visited:
8/16/2023
Time visited:
8:30 AM
How was the SSO remediated (i.e. Stopped and cleaned up)?
Yes
Yes
Cary assisted in vacuuming and removing the wastewater for disposal and treatment into the wastewater collections
s stem. Cary managed the pump station to prevent any additional wastewater discharge while repairs were bein made.
CS-SSO Form Page: 2

As a representative for the responsible party, I certify that the information contained in this report is true and accurate to the
best of my knowledge.
Person submitting claim:
Signature:
Telephone Number:
Chad Lemke
q11- 315- 4S- 71
Date: 08/21/23 01:00 pm
Title:
Any addition information desired to be submitted should be sent to the appropriate Division Regional Office within five days of f
knowledge of the SSO with reference to the incident number (the incident number is only generated when electronic entry of th
form is completed, if used).
CS-SSO Form Page: 3