WQCS00039_Remission (Request)_20190716

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Gavin Brown, Mayor Robert W. Hites,Jr. Town Manager
Pcot;ess Caldwell, Mayor Pro Tem " / William Cannon,Town Attorney
Jon Feichter,Alderman 1871
Julia Freeman,Alderman
LeRoy Roberson,Alderman
July 16, 2019 RECEIVED/
Attn: PERCS Branch JUL 19 20+9
Division of Water Resources
1617 Mail Service Center Water Quality
Permitting Section
Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
Re: Request for Remission,Town of Waynesville, Collection System Permit No. WQCS00039
Case No. DV 2019-0097, Haywood County
Dear Sir or Madam:
On July 1, 2019 the Town was assessed a penalty amounting to $3,119.59 ($3,000 civil penalty
+$119.59 enforcement costs). The penalty involved the Town experiencing a sanitary sewer
overflow resulting in a discharge without a valid permit.
The Town is in the process of evaluating both its treatment plant and collection system.The
plant serves as a regional treatment facility for three collection systems in addition to
Waynesville. Over the past nine months we have experienced several rain events that have
introduced over 3 inches of rain within twelve hours into the area.These unprecedented rain
events have resulted in significant inflow, more than the outfall's capability to carry and the
plant to treat. In response to these overflows we have engaged McGill Engineers to conduct a
flow study to determine how much of the inflow is coming from the collection systems we
serve as regionally. McGill and Town forces are conducting smoke and camera testing of
Waynesville's collection system to locate areas of inflow.The Town budgeted significant funds
in its 2019-20 budget to repair areas of inflow in the upcoming year. Through these actions we
believe that we have carried out programs promptly to determine the causes of the discharge
and the engineering solutions.
The main outfall where the overflows have taken place was constructed in the 1960s.There are
several design flaws in the outfall that exacerbate excess flows that enter the system during
rain events. McGill Engineers are in the process of evaluating the outfall and recommending
modifications. Unfortunately,the modifications are not simple.They will require the Town to
reroute the outfall through a ravine. Our request for remission would permit us to continue
our effort to locate areas of inflow and design modifications to the outfall. The Town will
expend over$19 million dollars on the rehabilitation of its treatment plant and as much as
$800,000 to modify the outfall. We are moving as quickly as the design and approval process
permits.
16 South Main Street•P.O. Box 100• Waynesville,NC 28786 Phone[phone] Fax[phone]
Web Address: www.waynesvillenc.gov

Page 2.
Request for Remission of Civil Penalty
We believe that the violation was inadvertent since it was caused by record rain events that
resulted inflow/infiltration from the collection system of Waynesville, Clyde, Lake Junaluska and
Junaluska Sanitary District overwhelming the poorly designed outfall.
As I have stated earlier we are concurrently planning a complete renovation of the waste
treatment plant, rerouting a poorly designed outfall and conducting and remediating areas of
inflow. We recognize that we have experienced several civil penalties over the past two years
for both violations in our plant and in our collection system. We are attempting to negotiate an
SOC to cover the period that our plant will be reconstructed. None of these engineering efforts
can be accomplished quickly. We request a remission of the civil fines because we are carrying
out a plan to remediate these issues as quickly as the design, approval and construction process
will permit.
The payment of a civil penalty will not prevent the Town from borrowing millions of dollars to
carry out remedial actions however imposition of the penalty does not take into consideration •
the efforts that Town has undertaken to redesign the plant and outfall lines or the complexity
of the engineering necessary to design, bid and permit these projects.
We want to thank you and your staff at the Asheville Regional Office for their guidance as we
work toward the renovation of the waste water treatment plant and collection system. These
projects will be the most expensive the Town of Waynesville has ever undertaken. We have
received a loan commitment from the State Revolving Loan program and we are moving as
quickly as we can to bring our plant and collection system into compliance.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at 828-550-5238 should you have any questions.
Sincerely;
Robert W. Hites Jr.
Town Manager
cc. I.G Langdon Davidson P.G. Regional Supervisor
Asheville Regional Office, Department of Environmental Quality
Keith Webb, McGill Engineers.
16 South Main Street•P.O. Box 100• Waynesville,NC 28786 Phone[phone] Fax[phone]
Web Address: www.wavnesvillenc.gov

DocuSign Envelope ID E8D17F5B-D247-4C6C-A885-EA93B93214C6 1
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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
COUNTY OF HAYWOOD
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT ) WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST ) ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND
) STIPULATION OF FACTS
Town of Waynesville )
Waynesville Collection System )
)
PERMIT NO. WQCS00039 ) CASE NO. DV-2019-0097
Having been assessed civil penalties totaling$3,119.59 for violation(s) as set forth in the assessment document of the
Division of Water Resources dated July 01,2019,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 / day of fat/ ,20//
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vocuSign Envelope ID E8D17F5B-D247-4C6C-A885-EA93B93214C6
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JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST
Case Number: DV-2019-0097 County: Haywood
Assessed Party: Town of Waynesville
Permit No.: WQCS00039 Amount Assessed: $3,119.59
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 may be 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. 143B-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);
(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:

rDocuSign Envelope ID E8D17F5B-D247-4C6C-A885-EA93693214C6
ATTACHMENT A
Town of Waynesville
CASE NUMBER: DV-2019-0097
PERMIT NO: WQCS00039 REGION: Asheville
FACILITY: Waynesville Collection System COUNTY: Haywood
Other Violations
INCIDENT VIOLATION TOTAL VOLUME PENALTY
NUMBER DATE VIOLATION TYPE VIOLATION DESCRIPTION (GALLONS) AMOUNT
201900381 2/21/2019 CSO/SSO(Sewer Overflow) Discharge without valid permit 608,400 $3,000 00