310026_Failure to maintian waste level response_20200629

JIMPOR
zgir
PO BOX
ELIZABETHTOWN,28337
June 29, 2020
Mr. Tom Tharrington, Assistant Regional Supervisor
Division of Water Resources, Water Quality
Wilmington Regional Office
127 Cardinal Dr Extension
Wilmington, NC 28405
Dear Mr. Tharrington,
In response to your Notice of Violation (NOV-2020-PC-0272) of June 2, 2020 for MAGA 1 (31-26) I
submit the following:
Violation 1: Failure to maintain waste level in lagoons in accordance with the CAWMP: Permit
Condition V.2.
I have had a tremendous amount of rainfall since the first of this year and have been very careful in land
application so as to not allow ponding nor runoff. The farm has some wet -natured soils and we must be
careful when applying waste. This farm has had numerous issues, as you are aware, before we
purchased it and we are working diligently to operate this farm properly. We did provide the required 30
day POA for each of the occurrences you had listed in the letter, not just for the May 21s' event. To help
us better manage the waste on this farm, we have hired a custom applicator to apply all the waste at the
farm, beginning this past May. This is expensive but we know it will help us stay in compliance. I hope
you will keep this added expense we have incurred in mind when considering a potential fine for high
freeboard.
I regret that high freeboard has occurred and we are managing the farm to prevent any damage to our
environment. I hope that our actions will be considered when determining the need for fines. If you need
further information regarding this incident please call me at 910-8624549. Thank you for your attention to
this matter.
Sincerely
Dean Hilton