WQCS00081_Remission Decision (DV-2024-0034)_20240606

DocuSign Envelope ID:1503CDA8-2600-4A72-B2FA-DC6C66506157
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ROY COOPER Os"'- ''
Governor '- r(:ice:'.
ELIZABETH S. BISER ( 14 t�
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Secretary
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RICHARD E. ROGERS, JR. .iiiiiiilsrm'�
Director NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
June 6,2024
CERTIFIED MAIL 7019 1 120 0001 4877 6031
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mr. Chris Rollins,City Manager
City of Mebane
106 E. Washington Street
Mebane,NC 27302
Subject: Remission Request of Civil Penalty Assessment
Collection System Permit WQCS00081
City of Mebane Collection System
Alamance County
Case Number DV-2024-0034
Dear Mr. Rollins:
The Division of Water Resources has considered the information submitted in support of your request
for remission in accordance with G.S. 143-215.6A(f) and remitted$750.00 of the $893.98 total penalty
assessment. The revised amount due is $143.98, for the investigative costs. A copy of the remission
decision is attached.
Two options are available to you at this stage of the remission process:
You may pay the remaining enforcement costs of$143.98.
If you decide to pay the revised assessment,please make your check in the amount of$143.98,payable
to the Department of Environmental Quality(DEQ). Send the payment within thirty(30)calendar days
of your receipt of this letter to the attention of:
Ms. Wren Thedford
NC DEQ-DWR—Water Quality NPDES Permitting Branch
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1617
OR
You may decide to have the Environmental Management Commission's (EMC's) Committee on
Civil Penalty Remissions make the final decision on your remission request.
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/�J`/\ 512rth NorthCarolina Salisbury StreetDepartment I of I617 Mail
Environmental Service CenterQuality I Raleigh.Division Northofater Carolina sources 27b99 1b17
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DocuSign Envelope ID:1503CDA8-2600-4A72-B2FA-DC6C66506157
Mr. Chris Rollins
Case DV-2024-0034 DWR Remission Decision
p. 2
If payment is not received within 30 calendar days fromyour receipt of this letter,your request for
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remission with its supporting documents, and the recommendation of the Division of Water Resources
will be delivered to the Committee on Civil Penalty Remissions for a final agency decision.
You have the option of presenting your request in person to the Committee on Civil Penalty
Remissions. If you or your representative would like to speak before the Committee,you must
complete and return the attached Request for Oral Presentation Form within thirty(30)calendar days
of receipt of this letter. Send the completed form to:
Ms. Wren Thedford
NC DEQ-DWR—Water Quality NPDES Permitting Section
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1617
Please be advised that if an in-person presentation is not requested,the Committee's decision regarding
your remission request will be based upon the written record.
Please be advised that the EMC's Committee on Civil Penalty Remissions will make its remission
decision based on the original assessment amount. Therefore,the Committee may choose to
uphold the original penalty amount and offer no remission, it may agree with the Division of
Water Resources' remission recommendation detailed above, or the penalty amount may be
further remitted.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions,please contact Bob Sledge at
919-707-3602, or via e-mail at [e-mail].
Sincerely,
DocuSigned by:
8328B44CE9EB4A1...
John E. Hennessy, Section Chief
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Division of Water Resources
Attachments
ec: Laserfiche Files(WSRO)

DocuSign Envelope ID:1503CDA8-2600-4A72-B2FA-DC6C66506157
DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES
CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION FACTORS
Case Number: DV-2024-0034 Region: Winston-Salem County: Alamance
Assessed Entity: City of Mebane Collection System Permit: WQCS00081
(a) Whether one or more of the civil penaltyassessment factors were wrongly applied to the
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detriment of the petitioner:
• (b) Whether the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the
violation:
Permittee States: The City notes the SSO occurred at a pump station due to a blown fuse. The SCADA system
notified the City of a potential problem. Staff arrived at the site within 33 minutes.The SSO was mitigated,and
the cause of the problem was identified and remedied.The pump station was back online within one hour. Debris
was cleaned up and lime was placed over the affected area.The City recognized deficiencies in the use of fuses
with the pump station's control panel and has since had them replaced with easy to see circuit breakers.The City
is making the replacement at other,similar pump stations.
v' prompt response to this incident and took appropriate
DWR Response:DWR agrees that the City provided a p o pt p
steps to mitigate potential impacts. Its additional steps to replace fuses with breakers at this and other pump
stations will allow for quicker identification of problems and more efficient response to such events in the future.
• (c) Whether the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident:
The City states the SSO resulted from a fuse being blown during the process of exercising a generator at the site.
The event was unforeseeable and accidental.
DWR agrees the incident was inadvertent and accidental in nature.
® (d) Whether the violator had been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations:
The City states it has not received any prior civil penalties for the occurrence of SSOs
DWR confirms this is the first civil penalty assessment for an SSO assessed against the City.
❑ (e) Whether payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary
remedial actions:
DECISION
Request Denied ❑
Full Remission ® Retain Enforcement Cos*2.YgoNsi @ciAl:
Partial Remission ❑ $
6/6/2024
\---8328B44CE9EB4A1...
John E. Hennessy, Section Chief Date
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Division of Water Resources

DocuSign Envelope ID:1503CDA8-2600-4A72-B2FA-DC6C66506157
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
COMMISSION
COUNTY OF ALAMANCE DWR Case Number DV-2024-0034
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT )
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST: ) REQUEST FOR ORAL PRESENTATION
City of Mebane )
City of Mebane Collection System )
I hereby request to make an oral presentation before the Environmental Management Commission's Committee On Civil Penalty
Remissions in the matter of the case noted above. In making this request,I assert that I understand all of the following statements:
• This request will be reviewed by the Chairman of the Environmental Management Commission and may be either granted or
denied.
• Making a presentation will require the presence of myself and/or my representative during a Committee meeting held in Raleigh,
North Carolina.
• My presentation will be limited to discussion of issues and information submitted in my original remission request,and because
no factual issues are in dispute,my presentation will be limited to five(5)minutes in length.
The North Carolina State Bar's Authorized Practice of Law Committee has ruled that the appearance in a representative capacity at
quasi-judicial hearings or proceedings is limited to lawyers who are active members of the bar. Proceedings before the Committee on
Remissions are quasi-judicial.You should consider how you intend to present your case to the Committee in light of the State Bar's
opinion and whether anyone will be speaking in a representative capacity for you or a business or governmental entity. If you or your
representative would like to speak before the Committee,you must complete and return this form within thirty(30)days of receipt of
this letter.
Depending on your status as an individual,corporation,partnership or municipality,the State Bar's Opinion affects how you may
proceed with your oral presentation. See www.ncbar.com/ethics,Authorized Practice Advisory Opinion 2006-1 and 2007 Formal
Ethics Opinion 3.
• If you are an individual or business owner and are granted an opportunity to make an oral presentation before the Committee,
then you do not need legal representation before the Committee;however,if you intend on having another individual speak
on your behalf regarding the factual situations,such as an expert,engineer or consultant,then you must also be present at the
meeting in order to avoid violating the State Bar's Opinion on the unauthorized practice of law.
• If you are a corporation.partnership or municipality and are granted an opportunity to make an oral presentation before the
Committee,then your representative must consider the recent State Bar's Opinion and could be considered practicing law
without a license if he or she is not a licensed attorney. Presentation of facts by non-lawyers is permissible.
If you choose to request an oral presentation,please make sure that signatures on the previously submitted Remission Request form
and this Oral Presentation Request form are: 1)for individuals and business owners,your own signature and 2)for corporations,
partnerships and municipalities,signed by individuals who would not violate the State Bar's Opinion on the unauthorized practice of
law.
Also,be advised that the Committee on Civil Penalty Remissions may choose not to proceed with hearing your case if the Committee
is informed that a potential violation of the statute concerning the authorized practice of law has occurred.
This the day of ,20
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ADDRESS
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