NC0000175_Remission Decision (TX-2020-0001)_20200630

ROY COOPER
Governor
MICHAEL S. REGAN
Secretary
S. DANIEL SMITH
Director
(NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
June 30, 2020
CERTIFIED MAIL ITEM 7015 0640 0007 9833 6094 - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mr. Douglas Myers
Sibelco North America
P.O. Box 588
Spruce Pine, NC 28777-0588
SUBJECT: CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION REQUEST
NPDES Permit NCO000175
Quartz Operation WWTP
Case TX-2020-0001
Mitchell County
Dear Mr. Myers:
I have considered the information submitted by your organization in support of a request for
remission in the subject case. The miscommunication regarding test results, combined with the
generally positive compliance history of the facility, was noted. Therefore, in accordance with
NCGS 143-215.6A (f), I have found cause to remit the original civil penalty assessment by
$600.00. Your organization is responsible for the remaining penalties and enforcement costs,
which total $2,517.18.
If you choose to pay the remaining amount, send payment to the letterhead address within thirty
(30) days of receipt of this letter. Please make checks payable to NC DEQ and include the case
numbers on the check[s].
If payment is not received within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter, in accordance with NCGS
§ 143-215.6A (f), your requests for remission of the civil penalties (with supporting documents) and
my recommendations regarding your requests will be delivered to the North Carolina
Environmental Management Commission's (EMC) Committee On Civil Penalty Remissions
(Committee) for final agency decision.
If you desire to make an oral presentation to the Committee on why your requests for remission
meet one or more of the five statutory factors you were asked to address, you must complete and
return the attached forms within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter. Please mail the
completed forms to:
Mr. Charles H. Weaver
NC DEQ / DWR / NPDES
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
DM. , - North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
_w 512 North Salisbury Street 1 1617 Mail Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1617
/� 919.707.9000

NCO000175 Remission Decision
Page 2 of 3
Your request for an oral presentation and the documents in this matter will be reviewed by the
EMC Chairman and, if it is determined that there is a compelling reason to require an oral
presentation from you, you will be notified by certified mail of the date, time, and place that your
oral presentation can be made. Otherwise, the final decision on your requests for remission will be
made by the Committee based on the written record.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions about this letter, please
contact Mr. Weaver at [phone] or [e-mail].
Sincerely,
W'S&i,
h, Director
Division i n of Water Resources
cc: NPDES Files

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1 FB4188D9E
Division of Water Resources
May 26, 2020
MEMORANDUM
To: John Hennessy
Through: Cindy Moore
From: Hannah Headrick NIEST
Subject: REMISSION REINFORMATION FOR DIRECTOR'S NOTEBOOK
Sibelco North America, Inc. — Quartz Facility
TX-2020-001
NPDES Permit No. NC0000175
Mitchell County
Attached please find information to be included in the Director's Remission Request Notebook.
Please forward as appropriate.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cindy Moore at [phone] or
Hannah Headrick at [phone].

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1FB4188D9E
Remission Request Summary and Recommendation
To: Danny Smith
From: Hannah Headrick Ak Date: May 26, 2020 Region: ARO
Reviewed by: Cindy Moore_ Date:
Assessed Party: Sibelco North America (Unimin Corp.) County: Mitchell
Case No.: TX-2020-0001 Permit No.: NCO000175
Case Back round and Assessment
• 06/0t/2012: DWQ issued Permit No. 0000175 to Unimin Corporation (now known as
Sibelco North America, Inc. [Sibelco]).
• 10/04/2019: An initial Notice of Violation (NOV) was issued to Sibelco for toxicity non-
compliance for its 07/15/2019 test.
• 08/05/2019: Sibelco's follow-up testing resulted in a Chronic Value (3.92) less than the
Chronic Limit Value (11). This was considered another non-compliance event.
• 09/23/2019: Sibelco's second multi -concentration testing resulted in a Chronic Value
(>44) greater than the Chronic Limit Value (11). This was considered a Passing result.
• 10/21/2019: The facility's testing results for the Fourth Quarter were non -compliant.
• November and December 2019: Sibelco did not submit follow-up testing for its Fourth
Quarter 2019 testing Failure.
• 01/13/2020: First Quarter 2020 testing resulted in a Pass.
• 02/24/2020: Sibelco was issued two NOVs for not submitting self -monitoring report
forces for retesting in November and December 2019. Facility was put on notice that it
was eligible for a Civil Penalty Assessment (CPA).
• 04102/2020: ATB issues CPA.
• 04/27/2020: Sibelco issues its response to our CPA.
Remission Request (Summary)
• 04/27/2020: Remission request signed.
• 05/04/2020: Remission request received.
Mr. Douglas Myers of Sibelco has requested remission for the entire $3,117.19 CPA
based on 5 remission factors:
1) Sibelco immediately initiated detailed studies to determine the cause of its July 2019
Failure. This resulted in a Pass for the September 2019 follow-up testing.
These studies indicated issues toward the end of the treatment processes.
2) While the facility Failed its October 2019 testing, the novice ORC marked it as a
Pass on Sibelco's eDMR due to a misunderstanding regarding reduction values and
because the testing lab did not clearly indicate on its paperwork that the test as a
Failure. However, it was correctly marked as a Fail in ATB's database. The ORC
was unaware that ATB does not crosscheck with the eDMR system to verify
Passes/Fails on forms that are submitted to ATB.
Immediately after the October 2019 testing, Sibelco discovered issues with another
pump. Sibelco believes this pump failure caused the October 2019 testing Failure.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1FB4188D9E
3) Because the novice ORC believed the Fourth Quarter test was a Pass, he did not
know of the need for follow-up testing the next two consecutive months. That is
why ATB did not receive self -report monitoring forms from the facility for
November and December 2019.
Normal sampling/testing was resumed on January 2020, and this resulted in a Pass.
4) Once ORC received the NOVs and became aware that the results of the October 2019
test were a Fail, he immediately reached out to staff at the ARO to rectify the situation.
ARO told the ORC to contact ATB and that organisms at ATB's lab were unreliable.
5) Sibelco has substantial financial commitments to environmental protection:
a) Sibelco's cost for additional testing, equipment, and manhours to correct problems
in its treatment system cost over $12,000.
b) Sibelco was one of the founding members of the Toe River Valley Watershed
Partnership in 2010 and contributed $450,000 to helping secure a 319 grant
(among other coordinated efforts with then-DWQ) to successfully remove the river
from the 303(d) list; and
c) Sibelco has funded the salary for the Toe -Cane Watershed Coordinator position
for the past 6 years.
05/13/2020 ATB reached out to staff from the ARO. They did not recommend full
remission.
ARO does support a partial remission of the CPA based on the following:
1) The violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident. ARO staff agree that an
inadvertent error due to unclear communication or misinterpretation/misunderstanding
of testing results by Sibelco's ORC could have lead to this permit violation.
2) The violator had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations. This
facility has a good compliance history and has not had any Civil Penalties Assessments
issued for the past 10 years.
ARO staff do not support a full remission due to the circumstances following the July
Failure event: The violator did not promptly abate continuing environmental damage
r_esultina from the violation. While Sibelco documented its efforts and costs to find and
remediate the issues following the multiple -concentration test failure, it failed to abide by
a condition of its permit: The Permittee shall report by telephone to either the central
office or the appropriate regional office of the Division as soon as possible, but in no case
more than 24 hours or on the next working day following the occurrence or first
knowledge of the occurrence of... the discharge of significant amounts of wastes which
are abnormal in quantity or characteristic ... or any other unusual circumstances.
Sibelco failed to report to ARO staff the required Noncompliance Notification of the July
chronic test. Also, Sibelco has not documented those actions it immediately implemented
following the July fail; therefore, potential/continuing environmental damage was not
promptly abated.
ATB supports ARO staff's recommendation of a partial remission. ATB sees where there

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1FB4188D9E
could have been miscommunication/misunderstanding between Sibelco's ORC and its testing
laboratory regarding the interpretation of 2020 Fourth Quarter results, and this likely lead to the
ORC not understanding that follow-up testing was required in November and December.
However, the ORC did understand that its July 2019 test was a Failure and knew that follow-up
testing was required in August and September. The ORC understood that the August 2019 test
was a Failure, with the Chronic Value of 3.92 being displayed on the AT form and that 3.92 is
less than its Chronic Limit of 11. The ORC also understood that the September 2019 test was a
Pass because of the Chronic Value of 44 being greater than its Chronic Limit of 11.
There was also another instance of miscommunication. Unfortunately, Sibelco's ORC was
mistakenly copied in an email to ARO staff reporting October 2019 compliance; the ORC
mistakenly interpreted what was sent to show that Sibelco had passed its test. (The result shown
in the attachment for October 2019 was "7.8" and not the word "Pass.") While ATB accepts
responsibility in this error (the sending of the email to the wrong person), we do not accept
responsibility in the incorrect interpretation of what was sent. Furthermore, while the ORC may
have been new to the job, his education/training should have allowed him to know that the
Chronic Value of 7.8 on the report from the testing lab and the 7.8 result that showed in the
email attachment were indicative of a Failed test, since 7.8 is less than Sibelco's Chronic Limit
of 11. This is especially true given his interpretation of AT forms received from his lab for the
July -August -September 2019 testing sequence.
ATB and ARO staff agree to support a partial remission of 20%, $623,44.
Enforcement Hista
• Sibelco Failed its July 2019 Chronic WET test. An NOV was issued for this July Failure.
• Follow-up WET testing was conducted in August (Fail) and September (Pass) 2019. This
round of three tests closed the Third Quarter of 2019.
• WET testing resumed on schedule for Fourth Quarter of 2019 with testing in October,
which resulted in a Fail. An NOV was issued for this October Failure.
• Sibelco did not complete follow-up testing in November and December. Two additional
NOVs were issued for these instances of non -reporting.
• Because Sibelco was issued NOVs for three consecutive months, the CPA process began.
A CPA of $3,117.18 was issued on April 2, 2020.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1 FB4188D9E
DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES
CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION FACTORS
DECISION (Check One)
Request Denied ❑
Full Remission ❑ Retain Enforcement Costs? Yes ❑ No ❑
Original Penalty (without Enforcement Costs) $3,117.18
Partial Remission 20% or $600.00 (amount
Subtotal remitted)
Retaining Enforcement Costs $117.18
Total Revised Assessment $2,517.18
E/Do�cuSpgned by:
r ayof 6/29/2020
8FB19B649DD2478...
S. Daniel Smith Date

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1 FB4188D9E
Weaver, Charles
From: Wiggs, Linda
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 4:37 PM
To: Davidson, Landon; Weaver, Charles
Subject: RE: Remission Request Summary & Recommendation for Sibelco (Unimin) - TX-2020-0001
Attachments: Sibelco (Unimin) Remission Summary & Recommendation.pdf
Hi Charles,
ARC) worked with Hannah and Cindy regarding the subject remission; ARO's comments are incorporated in their memo
attached here.
Environmental Senior S eciahs l ivision l
North ar lii a Department of Env. trosmer
828- . -4500(Office)
Lind .wIggs(q',n.denr.goy
&nal cofTespon*nce to aW from thlils address is su4ect to ttu Wh Carohna f
may be docksed to II*d palp
From: Davidson, Landon
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 2:24 PM
To: Weaver, Charles <[e-mail]>
Cc: Wiggs, Linda <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: Remission Request Summary & Recommendation for Sibelco (Unimin) - TX-2020-0001
We do Charles, Linda has prepared comments and can send to you. I believe Hannah is managing the remission aspect?
Linda, can fill in.
G. Landon Davidson, P.G.
Regional Supervisor —Asheville Regional Office
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
NCDEQ — Division of Water Resources
828 296 4680 office
828 230 4057 mobile
Landon. Davidson (c)_ncdenr.gov
2090 U.S. Hwy. 70
Swannanoa, N.C. 28711
Subscribe to Collection System & Sewer Permitting Updates
NC DEQ permits handbook

DocuSign Envelope ID: 18789683-BD70-49B7-9727-9C1 FB4188D9E
Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
From: Weaver, Charles
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 2:20 PM
To: Davidson, Landon <[e-mail]>
Subject: FW: Remission Request Summary & Recommendation for Sibelco (Unimin) - TX-2020-0001
This is a tox case. I guess we have to do those now, too.
Let me know the ARO recommendation on this....
CHW
From: Hennessy, John <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 2:16 PM
To: Sugg, Celeste <[e-mail]>; Weaver, Charles <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fw: Remission Request Summary & Recommendation for Sibelco (Unimin) - TX-2020-0001
From: Headrick, Hannah <hannah.head [e-mail]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 3:30 PM
To: Hennessy, John <[e-mail]>
Cc: Moore, Cindy <[e-mail]>; Davidson, Landon <[e-mail]>; Wiggs, Linda
<[e-mail]>; Boss, Daniel J <[e-mail]>
Subject: Remission Request Summary & Recommendation for Sibelco (Unimin) - TX-2020-0001
John —
Please find the subject document attached.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Hannah
Hannah Headrick
Environmental Biologist
Division of Water Resources
Department of Environmental Quality
Based on the current guidance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Environmental Quality has
adjusted operations to protect the health and safety of the staff and public. Many employees are working remotely or
are on staggered shifts. To accommodate these staffing changes, all DEQ office locations are limiting public access to
appointments only. Please check with the appropriate staff before visiting our offices, as we may be able to handle your
requests by phone or email. We appreciate your patience as we continue to serve the public during this challenging
time.
Email AT Forms to Hannah at: [e-mail]
Please note new number - 919 743 8439
hannah.headrick(a)ncdenr.gov
Mailing: 1621 Mail Services Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1621
Physical: 4401 Reedy Creek Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the