860004_Correspondence_20180104

i
Rosebrock, Melissa
From: Davis, Tony - NRCS-CD, Dobson, NC <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2018 12:31 PM
To: Rosebrock, Melissa
Subject: [External] FW: Eddie Johnson v. NC DEQ 17 EHR 08212
Tony R. Davis
Suny Soil & Water Conservation District
District Director
220 Cooper Street
PO Box 21.8
Dobson NC 27017
Telephone [phone]a1 ext 3
From: Ellen Johnson [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2018 9:02 AM
To: Davis, Tony - NRCS-CD, Dobson, NC <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fw: Eddie Johnson v. NC DEQ 17 EHR 08212
Please read last letter from Spiller. Thx! Ellen
On Wednesday, December 27, 2017 9:06 AM, "Spiller, Asher" <AspillerCcDncdoj.gov> wrote:
Thank you, Ms. Johnson. To fully bring this case to a close you will need to let the Office of Administrative Hearings
know that you are withdrawing your petition. The Chief Hearings Clerk at OAH is:
Maria G. Erwin
919-431-3000
maria.erwin(aD_oah. nc.gov
All the best,
Asher Spiller
Assistant Attorney General
Environmental Division
919-716-6977
Aspiller@..ncdoj eov
114 W. Edenton St., Raleigh, NC 27603
ncdoj.gov
IMPORTANT: This e-mail message is intended solely for the individual or individuals to whom it is addressed. It may contain confidential attorney -client privileged
information and attorney work product. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are requested not to read, copy or distribute it or any of the
information it contains. Please delete the message immediately and notify the Attorney General's Office by return e-mail or by telephone [phone]. Any
information not protected by attorney -client privilege may be subject to North Carolina Public Records Act requests (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132.1 at seg.
From: Ellen Johnson [mai Ito: eefarms47(cD_yahoo. corn
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2017 2:09 PM

To: Spiller, Asher -
Subject: Re: Eddie Johnson v. NC DEQ17 EHR 08212
Mr. Spiller:
In efforts to continue a good working relationship with DEQ, Double E Farms, LLC has made payable a check to DEQ in the
amount of $2,666.38 that will be mailed today to satisfy in full the assessed penalty. Thank you for your time in reviewing this
matter.
Regards,
Ellen Johnson
Double E Farms, LLC
On Tuesday, December 26, 2017 8:47 AM, "Spitler, Asher' <Asoiller _ncdoj qov> wrote:
Confidential Settlement Communication
Dear Ms. Johnson.
Thank you for your response and for your interest in working together to resolve this matter. I have reviewed your
letter with DEQ. DEQ is willing to reduce the total penalty to $2666.38 which eliminates 100% of the $500 penalty for
failure to notify. Please let me know whether this amount is acceptable to you.
In response to your question of how the situation could have been handled differently, and what EE Farms could have
done to reduce harm to the environment, Ms. Melissa Rosebrock explained several options to EE Farms on the day of
the investigation. It is simply not correct that DWR has not been responsive to your inquiries before now.
• EE Farms should have avoided rainwater inundating the waste pit in the first place. The freshwater tank has
been there for several years during other high rainfall events. EE Farms has not notified DWR or addressed the issue
of inundation in all that time.
• EE Farms could have let the pit fill up further. EE Farms did not have to pump when it did. When DWR arrived on
site, waste had not even raised high enough to come up through the slats of the barn. If waste had overflowed from
the pit it would have discharged onto a level graveled farm road. If necessary, a retention ditch or hole could have
been dug. The distance to the stream is much greater from the pit than from where EE Farms actually applied. In
addition, if the waste had started spilling out from the roofed pit, an earthen berm could have been constructed around
the perimeter to contain the waste.
• As an emergency solution, EE Farms could have hauled waste to its permitted lagoon.
Had EE Farms contacted DWR when it noticed that rainwater was infiltrating the waste pit, DWR would have explored
the feasibility of these options and perhaps others with EE Farms.
Finally, as we have discussed, the total penalty issued by DWR was a small fraction of the maximum penalty that
DWR was authorized to assess pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-215.6A. The penalty that DWR did assess represents
its reasoned consideration of the statutory assessment factors and indeed takes into account EE Farms' prior record
of compliance.
I look forward to hearing your response. Please note that until this matter is resolved, DEQ will proceed with this
litigation according to the schedule provided in the Schedule Order and Order for Prehearing Statements issued by
the Office of Administrative Hearings and sent to you on December 6, 2017. I've attached those Order for your
convenience.
Thank you,
Asher

Asher Spiller
tt; Assistant Attorney General
Environmental Division
919-716-6977
[e-mail]
114 W. Edenton St., Raleigh, NC 27603
ncdcj.gov
IMPORTANT: This e-mail message is intended solely for the individual or individuals to whom it is addressed. It may contain confidential attomey-client privileged
information and attorney work product. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are requested not to read, copy or distribute it or any of the
information it contains. Please delete the message immediately and notify the Attorney General's Office by return e-mail or by telephone [phone]. Any
information not protected by attorney -client privilege may be subject to North Carolina Public Records Act requests (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132.1 et sea.
From: Ellen Johnson (mailto:eefarms47(aD_yahoo.coml
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2017 12:15 PM
To: Spiller, Asher
Subject: Eddie Johnson v. NC DEQ 17 EHR 08212
Mr. Spiller:
I have attached a letter in response to your 12/18/17 communication.
Thank you,
Ellen Johnson
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