NC0026557_Remission Request (LV-2021-0018)_20210129

c r r Town of Bryson City
Municipal Office
P.O. Box 726
° " Bryson City,NC 28713
Pi
_L4 o Telephone [phone]
January 20,2021 '1 a g Fax [phone]
Eat. RECEIVED
Wastewater Branch
Division of Water Resources
1.617 Mail Service Center JAN 2 9 2021
Raleigh,NC 27699
RE: Remission NOV-2021-LV-0002 NCDEQ/DWR/NPUES
Case No: LV-2021-0018
To Whom It May Concern:
On behalf of the Town of Bryson City,I am requesting remission for the Civil Penalty associated with the
Notice of Violation NOV-2021-LV-0002/Case No.LV-2021-0018. This request is based on the
following reasons.
As stated in the prior appeal letter dated January 12,2021,our ORC and our back-up ORC believe
someone is continuing to dump unidentified substances into one or more manholes. This is disrupting the
operation of the plant. To correct the current BOD problem,the plant staff has wasted substantially and
hauled 8 loads of new sludge to rehabilitate the plant. The Town has informed our Town crews to look
for anything or anyone suspicious around manholes. I have also contacted the Bryson City Police
Department and asked the police officers to look for anyone suspicious when they are patrolling. Our
local paper has written an article about this situation and has urged citizens to contact the Town Hall if
they see anyone around manholes(article attached).
At this time,McGill Associates is working on a Preliminary Engineering report to begin Phase I of a
project to replace outdated and insufficient lines to correct the inflow and infiltration issues we are having
in our system. Phase II will be to rehabilitate our wastewater plant which is old and has a lot of
unexpected annual repairs. The plant also has a hard time operating efficiently due to the age of the plant
and equipment.
The Town could really use the civil penalty money for the annual unexpected repairs that occur at our
wastewater treatment plant,as well as,to meet our loan and match for the Phase I and Phase II projects
through Appalachian Regional Commission(ARC)funding and United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA)funding.
Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter. We are also open to suggestions for finding
the culprit who is dumping unidentified substances into our system.
Thanks again,
, •
Reg ,i10Mathis
To • anager
Mayor Tom Sutton Board of Aldermen Benjamin King,Janine Crisp, Heidi Ramsey-Woodard&Chad Smith
Regina Mathis,Town Manager Fred Moody Jr.,Town Attorney Carla Passmore,Tax Collector Lynn Thomas,Town Clerk
Tom Shook,Public Works Supervisor
In accordance with Federal law and U.S Department of Agriculture policy,this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race,color,
national origin,age,disability,religion,sex,andfamilial status.(Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs). To file a complaint of discrimination,write
USDA,Director,Office of Civil Rights,I400 Independence Avenue,S.W., Washington,D.0 20250-9410 or call(866)632-9992(English)or(800)877-
8339(TDD)or(866)377-8642(English Federal-relay)or(800)845-6136(Spanish-relay).

of Apeal ase logy•aio;aq uaas 3o pl.'ons guneu►Dsr.J atp saiold pue'zau3 xue14'a31oM aT
THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN TIMES—Thursday,January 14,2021—Page 6A
NEWS
p g
• • Bryson Cit setiver lant
Ille a l dum in• disru tinpp g gY
Jessica Webb fine issued by N.C.Department "The limit the next week was ies is they're not doing a whole are removed from the water. or more, and I'm not sure if
[e-mail] of Environmental Quality Di- 30 and we hit 51,"Mathis ex- lot right now,so it makes us The secondary stage uses bi- I can appeal it again;Mathis
vision of Water Resources after plained."We were busting that think it's somebody dumping ological processes to further said.
The Town of Bryson City is the town sewer plant violated weekly and violated it for the something in manholes." breakdown the waste and pu- Mathis requested the public
facing heavy fines from the dis- its biochemical oxygen demand month." On Friday, again, she was rify the water. Illegal dumps to be on the lookout for anyone
ruption of its wastewater treat- levels for the month of October. There are other signs that notified by Passmore,report- into the system can kill the around a manhole that appears
ment plant,and town officials An on-site consultant works the problem is coming from ing he thinks someone has biological matter that breaks to be dumping something into
believe illegal dumping is to with the plant,conducting tests an outside source.Greg Pass- dumped something into the down the waste. the system.
blame.The town is appealing and to be sure everything is in more,plant manager,reported system again. "We hauled in eight loads of "We've caught people before;
to the public to be on the look- compliance.The fine for Octo- somebody has been dumping "It smells strong and has a new sludge because it was re- they don't realize the damage
out and report and suspicious ber followed two weeks of the into the system something that really dark color;'Mathis said. ally upsetting our plant'Mathis it does to the plants;she said.
activity that could be to blame. BOC concentration level ex- smelled like fuel. Wastewater treatment goes said. "Be on the lookout.If you see
Town Manager Regina ceeding its limits. "We really don't know what's through two basic stages of They believe the town will somebody around a manhole,
Mathis told the town board that One week,the limit was 45 going on;Mathis said of the treatment: primary and sec- likely face another set of fines report it to town hall."
she's going to appeal a$3,011 and the town plant hit 63,66 source of the problem. "The ondary.In the primary stage, for the month of November.
and 64 within the 5-day period, only thing about the brewer- solids are allowed to settle and "It might be another$3,000

DocuSign Envelope ID 70AEBO7F-6751-4346-ADFD-2ECO2CODAD57
JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REOUEST
Case Number: LV-2021-0018 County: Swain
Assessed Party: Town of Bryson City
Permit No.: NC0026557 Amount Assessed: $2,612.69
Please use this form when requesting remission of this civil penalty. You must also complete the "Request For Remission,
Waiver of Right to an Administrative Hearing, and Stipulation of Facts"form to request remission of this civil penalty.
You should attach any documents that you believe support your request and are necessary for the Director to consider in
evaluating your request for remission. Please be aware that a request for remission is limited to consideration of the five
factors listed below as they may relate to the reasonableness of the amount of the civil penalty assessed. Requesting
remission is not the proper procedure for contesting whether the violation(s)occurred or the accuracy of any of the factual
statements contained in the civil penalty assessment document. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143B-282.1(c),remission of a civil
penalty may be granted only when one or more of the following five factors apply. Please check each factor that you
believe applies to your case and provide a detailed explanation,including copies of supporting documents,as to why the
factor applies(attach additional pages as needed).
(a) one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors in N.C.G.S. 143B-282.1(b)were wrongfully applied to the
detriment of the petitioner (the assessment factors are listed in the civil penalty assessment document);
(b) the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation(i.e., explain the
steps that you took to correct the violation and prevent future occurrences);
I (c) the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident(i.e., explain why the violation was unavoidable or
something you could not prevent or prepare for);
(d) the violator had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations;
✓(e) payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary remedial actions (i.e., explain
how payment of the civil penalty will prevent you from performing the activities necessary to achieve
compliance).
EXPLANATION:
Sec 4-11 e'er
L' l Someone_ Con-4-;niQS J Juno Un�clen ' Zed Subs Z'1 e3
l
e Or 1N1oi ✓Ylan h of e S ,
e) Civ i l Te not ✓Y�c�1 e Coo a be use_d Urt
re i r s a 1c l a. 1 ✓v\�i- L -�r ��h�se I d- f s-e '.
1

DocuSign Envelope ID 70AEBO7F-6751-4346-ADFD-2ECO2CODAD57
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
COUNTY OF SWAIN
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT ) WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST ) ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND
) STIPULATION OF FACTS
Town of Bryson City )
Bryson City WWTP )
)
PERMIT NO.NC0026557 ) CASE NO. LV-2021-0018
Having been assessed civil penalties totaling$2,612.69 for violation(s)as set forth in the assessment document of the
Division of Water Resources dated January 13,2021,the undersigned,desiring to seek remission of the civil penalty,does
hereby waive the right to an administrative hearing in the above-stated matter and does stipulate that the facts are as alleged in
the assessment document. The undersigned further understands that all evidence presented in support of remission of this civil
penalty must be submitted to the Director of the Division of Water Resources within thirty(30)days of receipt of the notice
of assessment. No new evidence in support of a remission request will be allowed after(30)days from the receipt of the
notice of assessment.
This the OIV) day of <J(1t1t,1ct ,rictiA4
ECEI1!/,ED ra—SIGNARE
BAN 2 9 ADDRESS
2021 r n
NCCEQ/p UGJ/1 Ot Ero� Ct
WR/ I
NPDEs 70 7a/30x
6/j304 C / 087/i
TELEPHONE BJ8 -4/88 - J

DocuSign Envelope ID:70AEBO7F-6751-4346-ADFD-2ECO2CODAD57
ATTACHMENT A
Town of Bryson City
CASE NUMBER: LV-2021-0018
PERMIT: NC0026557 REGION: Asheville
FACILITY: Bryson City WWTP COUNTY: Swain
LIMIT VIOLATION(S)
SAMPLE LOCATION: Outfall 001 -Effluent
Violation Report Unit of Limit Calculated %Over Violation Penalty
Date Month/Yr Parameter Frequency Measure Value Value Limit Type Amount
11/7/2020 11-2020 BOD, 5-Day(20 Deg. Weekly mg/I 45 65 44.4 Weekly $500.00
C)-Concentration Average
Exceeded
11/21/2020 11-2020 BOD, 5-Day(20 Deg. Weekly mg/I 45 50 11.1 Weekly $0.00
C)-Concentration Average
Exceeded
11/28/2020 11-2020 BOD, 5-Day(20 Deg. Weekly mg/I 45 56 24.4 Weekly $500.00
C)-Concentration Average
Exceeded
11/30/2020 11-2020 BOD, 5-Day(20 Deg. Weekly mg/I 30 50.25 67.5 Monthly $1,500.00
C)-Concentration Average
Exceeded