FA-29514_48652_G_ELIG_20230227

February 27, 2023

Mr. David Brewer BG&G, Inc.
11413 NC Highway 42 East Middlesex, NC 27557 RE: Commercial State Trust Fund Eligibility Application Brewer’s Grill & Grocery – Facility ID # 00-0-0000014097 11413 NC Highway 42 East. Middlesex, Johnston County, North Carolina Incident # 48652 UST # - FA-29514 Dear Mr. Brewer: This letter is to acknowledge receipt of and respond to your request for eligibility determination for access
to the North Carolina Leaking Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Funds for the above-referenced property. Review of your application by the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Section of the Division of Waste Management is now complete.
Information supplied to the State Trust Fund indicates that the following USTs and aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) have been or are associated with the subject site:
• One 2,000-gallon gasoline UST (installed 5/10/1975 and closed by removal 8/31/2022),
• Two 4,000-gallon gasoline USTs (installed 5/10/1975 and closed by removal 8/31/2022),
• One 550-gallon heating oil UST (installed 5/10/1975 and closed by removal 8/31/2022),
• One 175-gallon UST (installed unknown, contents unknown, closed by removal 9/1/2022),
• One 2,000-gallon diesel AST (installed 2009 and removed 8/31/2022),
• One 550-gallon kerosene AST (installed 2009 and removed 8/31/2022),
• One 12,000-gallon gasoline AST (installed 8/2022 and in use), and
• One 8,000-gallon gasoline AST (installed 8/2022 and in use).
A release was discovered during the closure activities of both the USTs and ASTs formerly located on the property. The release report date was August 31, 2022. The release was reported to the Fayetteville Regional Office (FRO) with submittal of a UST-61 Form on September 1, 2022. The commercial tanks had been
upgraded to meet the required federal corrosion protection, leak detection, and spill/overfill prevention

standards at the time of the release discovery. A review of the tank operating fees database indicates that all fees were paid prior to the release discovery.
From the information provided with the application and the Initial Abatement Report (IAR) dated November 28, 2022 submitted to the FRO, the results indicate that there was both a gasoline and kerosene/diesel release at the site. The Department bases that judgement from the soil test results for TPH-GRO and TPH-DRO and the location of those results relative to the former tanks and dispensers. In addition, the release associated with the 550-gallon heating oil UST is ineligible for reimbursement since the Noncommercial trust fund was sunset by the State legislature in 2015. Based on those findings an apportionment will be applied to the eligibility determination. Note the one 175-gallon UST located on the opposite side of the property from the former USTs and ASTs is not being included for consideration since the soil test results showed no indication of a release having
occurred. Based on the aforementioned information, the release is conditionally eligible for reimbursement from the
Commercial Trust Fund for reasonable and necessary costs incurred for any environmental assessment and cleanup of this site. To remain eligible, you must proceed with corrective action, if required, by and in accordance with North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC) 15A 2L .0115 or 15A NCAC 2L .0106,
whichever is applicable. Failure to mitigate the spread of contamination may cause you to be determined ineligible to receive reimbursement from the Commercial Trust Fund. North Carolina General Statute (N.C.G.S.) 143-215.94 stipulates that only those costs associated with discharges or releases from petroleum underground storage tanks may be reimbursed by the Commercial Trust Fund. The application with the accompanying information and the IAR document submitted to the FRO shows a release from regulated USTs, ineligible heating oil UST and the former ASTs that were located on the property. Based on the volume of the contributing ineligible heating oil UST and the ASTs (3,100gallons) in relation to the total volume of all contributing tanks (13,100 gallons), claims submitted for assessment and corrective action will be adjusted through a base reimbursement apportionment of 24% for all eligible costs. In accordance with North Carolina General Statute (N.C.G.S.) 143-215.94B(b)(3), any discharge or release reported on or after January 1, 1994, is subject to a $20,000 deductible if prior to the discharge or release,
the commercial UST from which the discharge or release occurred met the performance standards applicable to tanks installed after December 22, 1988 or met the requirements that USTs must meet by December 22, 1998 (i.e., the UST systems were required to be protected from corrosion and have spill and
overfill protection equipment installed prior to release discovery). Based on the information available at this time, it appears that the N.C.G.S. 143-215.94B(b)(3) provision for a $20,000 deductible was met and will be applied. In accordance with N.C.G.S. 143-215.94E, reasonable and necessary costs incurred in the environmental cleanup may be eligible for reimbursement. You may be reimbursed for cleanup costs exceeding $20,000 as follows: 100 percent reimbursed for reasonable and necessary costs between $20,000 and $1 million, and 80 percent reimbursed for reasonable and necessary costs between $1 million and $1.5 million. As an example, if a claim totaling $100,000 is submitted and is determined reasonable and necessary, the following would apply: $100,000 times 76% (24% apportionment) equals $76,000 eligible from the Commercial Trust Fund with $20,000 applied to the initial deductible equaling $56,000 reimbursable to you from the Commercial Trust Fund for cleanup costs associated with the USTs.

The status of your underground storage tank release assessment or remediation efforts may be affected by the statutory requirements of N.C.G.S. 143-215.94E(e5), as revised by Session Law 2005-365.
Subsections (e5)(6) through (e5)(9) of this statute prohibit the Department from pre-approving any work eligible for reimbursement from the Commercial or Noncommercial Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, unless the Department determines that sufficient funds will be available to pay the claim within 90 days of final claim approval. To meet the requirements of this law, the Department is requiring the following: 1) Per 15A NCAC 2P .0402(b)(9), State Trust Fund preapproval is required for all work for which reimbursement will be requested, with the exception of emergency response actions (applied as per 15A NCAC 2L .0404, Initial Abatement Actions, including mitigation of fire, explosion, and vapor hazards) and assessment activities (applied as per 15A NCAC 2L .0405, Limited Site Assessments).
2) Following the submittal of a Limited Site Assessment Report and associated risk classification (15A NCAC 2L .0406), the Department will use Notice of Regulatory Requirements to direct responsible
parties of a release to assess and/or remediate contaminated soil and groundwater according to 15A NCAC 2L .0407 based on the site’s risk prioritization classification under N.C.G.S. 143-215.94E(e4). 3) The above referenced requirements, 1 and 2, are for sites with NO previous release(s) or incident(s). Any site with a prior release(s) or incident(s) must obtain pre-approval for all work to be conducted. Per N.C.G.S. 143-215.94E(j) and (k), please note that you have one year from task completion or the date of this eligibility determination, whichever comes later, to submit a reimbursement claim. The claim can only include costs beginning January 25, 2022 (one calendar year prior to eligibility application date of
receipt) or later. If a claim is not submitted within one year of the eligibility determination date or the completion of the task, costs may be denied.
The Commercial Leaking Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Funds will reimburse costs based on fund availability. Please note that this does not relieve you of any regulatory responsibility. Therefore, you must continue with all required assessment and/or corrective action, unless the site has received a
Notice of No Further Action. To obtain the latest information on implementation guidance or updated forms, please visit http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wm/ust/guidance. Please be aware that this letter does not constitute a final agency decision. Any additional information or comments to rebut this letter may be submitted to my attention at NCDEQ, Division of Waste Management, UST Section, 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1646. Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call me at [phone] or Mark Petermann at [phone]. Sincerely,
Wayne Randolph, CPM
Trust Fund Branch Manager UST Section-Division of Waste Management NC Department of Environmental Quality

MAP: 48652 – Brewer’s Grill & Grocery, 11413 NC Highway 42 East, Middlesex, Johnston County, NC cc: BG&G, Inc., David Brewer, [e-mail] Mineral Springs Environmental, PC, Kirk Pollard, [e-mail] NC DEQ - Fayetteville Regional Office, [e-mail] NC DEQ - UST Section - Hope Thompson, [e-mail]