710052_Acknowledgement Letter_20210423

MIKE HOPE FARMS
826 CHANCEY RD
CLINTON, NC 28328
April 23, 2021
North Carolina Division of Aquifer Protection
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Mr. Chad Coburn
Miss Jennifer Ryan
127 Cardinal Dr. Extension
Wilmington, NC 28405-3845
Dear Mr. Coburn & Miss Ryan,
I am writing in regards to the incident at my farm, M&D Sow Farm (71-52) on April 20,
2021. A flush tank on one of my houses ran over that morning sometime between 5:00
am and 8:00 am. My employees reported for work by 5:00 am and the flush tank had
not run over at that time. My technical specialist, Curtis Barwick, arrived at 8:30 am and
discovered that the tank had run over. He immediately turned off all the recycle pumps.
My employees discovered that the overflow pipe had stopped up and allowed the tank
to run over. This has been corrected. Barwick was there to meet with your staff and all
of you walked into the woods and could not see any wastewater. The only wastewater
seen was on the path and any wastewater that may have entered the woods quickly
dried up. I know that we have made a mistake with a past irrigation event and hope that
this overflow will not be considered a violation that will cause additional fines since there
was no degradation of water quality and since it was discovered and reported during
your visit. My staff is aware that upon discovery of any incident such as this that they
will immediately notify your office and begin cleanup.
I regret this incident and hope that you do not consider me a bad -actor because of
these two recent incidents. If you need further information regarding this, please call me
at 910-590-7830. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
67/62f
James Michael Hope