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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWQCS00005_NOV and Intent to Assess_2020-DV-0266_20200610a SYht[ . ROY COOPER MICHAEL S. REGAN Srrrrfary . S. DANIEL SMITH MOP f 1.1 CAR01 N D,rrnnr Environmental Quality CERTIFIED MAIL: 7016 3560 0000 4428 6895 RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED June 10, 2020 Donald F Greeley, Water Management Director City of Durham 101 City Hall Plaza Durham, NC 27701-3329 SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION & INTENT TO ISSUE CIVIL PENALTY Tracking No.: NOV-2020-DV-0266 Sanitary Sewer Overflows - May 2020 Collection System Permit No. WQCS00005 Durham Collection System Durham County Dear Mr. Greeley: A review has been conducted of the self -reported Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO's) 5-Day Report/s submitted by City of Durham. The Division's Raleigh Regional Office concludes that the City of Durham violated Permit Condition I (2) of Permit No. WQCS00005 by failing to effectively manage, maintain, and operate their collection system so that there is no SSO (Sanitary Sewer Overflow) to the land or surface waters and the SSO constituted making an outlet to waters of the State for purposes of G.S. 143-215.1(a)(1), for which a permit is required by G.S. 143-215.1. The Raleigh Regional Office is providing the City of Durham an opportunity to provide evidence and justification as to why the City of Durham should not be assessed a civil penalty for the violation(s) that are summarized below: Total Vol Total Surface Incident Start Duration Vol Water Number Date (Mins) Location Cause (Gals) (Gals) DWR Action 202001382 5/17/2020 264 1708 Woodburn Road Debris in line, Roots 264 264 Notice of Violation 202001727 5/29/2020 76 25 Phauff Court Debris in line 7,500 7,500 Notice of Violation Notice of intent 'ir •# = 'i�J[r ;^#'= 'i- _'—I-'i ;,t S J= }.5 =rl.- :-! This Notice of Violation / Notice of Intent to Enforce (NOV/NOI) is being issued for the noted violation. Pursuant to G.S. 143-215.6A, a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) may be assessed against any person who violates or fails to act in accordance with the terms, conditions, or requirements of any permit issued pursuant to G.S. 143-215.1. This office requests that you respond to this Notice, in writing, within 10 business days of its receipt. In your response, you should address the causes of non-compliance, remedial actions, and all other actions taken to prevent the recurrence of similar situations. The response to this correspondence will be considered in this process. Enforcement decisions will also be based on volume spilled, volume reaching surface waters, duration and gravity, impacts to public health, fish kills or recreational area closures. Other factors considered in determining the amount of the civil penalty are the violator's history of non-compliance, the cost of rectifying the damage, whether the spill was intentional and whether money was saved by non-compliance. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mitchell Hayes with the Water Quality Section in the Raleigh Regional Office at 919-791-4200 or via email at mitch.hayes@ncdenr.gov. Sincerely, Scott Vinson, Regional Supervisor Water Quality Regional Operations Section Raleigh Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ Cc: Raleigh Regional Office - WQS File Laserfiche