WQCSD0729_NOI NOV-2021-DV-0008_20210111

DocuSign Envelope ID: 03B58772-AOAF-48A1-AA48-4284OD401810
ROY COOPER
Governor
MICHAEL S. REGAN
Secretary
IF �
S. DANIEL SMITH
NORTHCAROLINA
Director
btWimn 9eMfaf Quality
January 11, 2021
CERTIFIED MAIL: 7018 2290 00018295 9441
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Robert High
Boathouse Village Community Association Inc
c/o Robert High Development LLC
324 Greenville Avenue
Wilmington, INC 28403
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION & INTENT TO ISSUE CIVIL PENALTY
Tracking No.: NOV-2021-DV-0008
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Incident #: 202100188
Deemed Collection System Permit No. WQCSD0729
Boathouse Village Deemed Collection System
New Hanover County
Dear Mr. High:
This notice is being sent to your attention since your office responded to the Notice of Violation issued by
the City of Wilmington for the subject sewer spill that was discovered to be ongoing by Cape Fear Public
Utility Authority (CFPUA) staff at about 8:00 am on November 23, 2020. That response failed to indicate
a specific contact for oversight of the private sewer system and its pump station serving the commercial
properties in the area.
After contacting Dean Hunkele with our staff about the spill, the CFPUA contacted Tony Loretti to see if
he happened to be looking after the pump station since his company does so for many in the area.
Fortunately, it happened to be one he was supposedly looking after and he was able to shut down the
pump station to stop the force main from continuing to discharge within an hour or so. According to Tony
he was pumping down the station and its surcharged gravity system at least daily while he awaited
authorization to make the repair and had time to perform repair. Unfortunately, since the pump station
was not secure someone turned it back on at some point during the Thanksgiving weekend withoutTony's
knowledge and it was discovered discharging again by CFPUA staff about 12:45 pm on November 30tn
Once the system was finally repaired, Mr. Hunkele requested that Tony provide contact information
concerning the ownership and oversight of this sewer system in addition to having that entity file a 5-Day
SSO Report with our office. Mr. Hunkele also provided Tony via email on December 3rd with a copy of a
sewer permit (WQ0008017) we believe was issued for this system. He indicated he had passed this
request to his contact and they wished to speak with Mr. Hunkele about the need for telemetry on the
pump station, but our office has heard nothing further on the matter to date.
127 Cardinal Drive Extension, Wilmington, North Carolina 28405
Phone: [phone]\ Internet: www.deg.nc.gov

DocuSign Envelope ID: 03B58772-AOAF-48A1-AA48-42840D401810
The Division's Wilmington Regional Office concludes that the Boathouse Village Community Association
Inc and its members violated 15A NCAC 02T .0403 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.
Additionally, the Boathouse Village Community Association was found to have the following violations
concerning its operation of the subject deemed collection system:
• Failure to have the permit transferred to the Association at some point following completion of
the system and selling of parcels to be served by the system.
• Failure to have the pump station secured from unauthorized access which requires either a locked
building, locked adequate fencing, or locked controls and wetwell.
• Failure to have the pump station properly posted with both ownership name & contact
information and a name & contact information for whom to contact in case of emergency 24-
Hours a day.
• Failure to have required items approved under WQ0008017 installed and/or maintained. Of
primary importance was the lack of a telemetry system to notify both the owner and operator of
an issue with the pump station.
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 30 days of its receipt. Failure to
respond will likely result in an increased enforcement action being taken. 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.
We recognize that the Association was likely unaware of its duty to comply with both the permit that was
issued for constructing the system but also the regulations governing its continued operation. To that
end, our office does not wish to pursue issuance of civil penalties or other potential enforcement actions
provided the Association addresses all outstanding issues and seeks transfer of the permit to it by our
office within the 30-day window expressed above.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 03B58772-AOAF-48A1-AA48-42840D401810
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dean Hunkele with the Water Quality Section
in the Wilmington Regional Office at 910-796-7215 or via email at dean.hunkele@ncdenrgov.
Sincerely,
DTDocuS igTned by: ,,yy
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Tom Tharrington, Asst. Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Wilmington Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
Cc: Wilmington Regional Office - Hunkele
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