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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNC0001406_Effluent Toxicity_20030324Michael F. Easley Governor Wiliam G. Ross, Jr., Secretary . .. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Alan W. Klimek, P.E., Director Division of Water Quality CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Mr. Bailey Barefoot Swift Textiles 200 N 13th Street Erwin, North Carolina 28339 SUBJECT: Dear Mr. Barefoot: March 24, 2003 NOTICE OF VIOLATION Effluent Toxicity Testing NPDES Permit No. NC0001406 Swift Textiles Harnett County t MAR AR 2 6 2003 This is to inform you that the Environmental Sciences Branch has not received your toxicity self -monitoring report form for the month of January 2003. This is in violation of Title 15A of the North Carolina Administrative Code, Chapter 2, Subchapter 2B, Section .0506 (a)(1)(A) which states that "monthly monitoring reports shall be filed no later than 30 days after the end of the reporting period for which the report was made." Your Discharge Monitoring Report for January 2003 does not indicate that a chronic toxicity test was conducted during January. To evaluate this reporting incident, Mr. Dale Lopez from the Fayetteville Regional Office contacted the facility's Operator in Responsible Charge. In addition, our office received a letter dated March 13, 2003, from Mr. Billy Coltrain explaining why a test was not conducted. We appreciate the facility's attentiveness to this matter. Information contained in the facility's March 13 letter indicates that the facility "got out of cycle with the regular test schedule" during January because of an invalid test in October. In the future, if you encounter problems with conducting a toxicity test during a required toxicity -testing month, then you'should immediately contact this office and speak with a staff representative. You should also follow-up the verbal notification with written documentation indicating problem(s) with performing the test and you should provide a follow-up date for toxicity testing Please.remember that reporting of toxicity self -monitoring data is a dual requirement. Toxicity test results must be entered on your Discharge Monitoring Report and the Aquatic Toxicity (AT) Report Form must be submitted to DWQ/ESB, 1621 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-1621 within the required time frame. You will be considered noncompliant with the reporting requirements contained in your NPDES Permit for the month of January 2003 until you make acceptable demonstration to the Environmental Sciences Branch that the report form was.submitted_to this_ office within the. required 30 day reporting period. In addition, if within the next twelve (12) months, future reports are not received within the required time frame, you may be assessed a civic penalty. The reverse side of this Notice contains a summary of important toxicity monitoring and reporting requirements. Please read this one page summary and if you have any questions concerning this Notice, please contact Mr. Kevin Bowden with the Aquatic Toxicology Unit at (919) 733-2136. cc: Sincerely, verton Assistant Water Quality Section Chief For Environmental Sciences Paul Rawls -Fayetteville Regional Office ';DaleLopez-Fayetteville_Regional:Office _, Aquatic Toxicology Unit Files Central Files NCOENit Customer Service 800 623-7748 Environmental Sciences Branch 1621 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1621 (919) 733-2136 WHOLE EFFLUENT TOXICITY MONITORING AND REPORTING INFORMATION ` > The following items are provided in an effort to assist you with identifying critical and sometimes overlooked toxicity testing and reporting information. Please take time to review this information. The items below do not address or include all the toxicity testing and reporting requirements contained in your NPDES permit. If you should have any questions about your toxicity testing requirement, please contact Mr. Kevin Bowden with the Aquatic Toxicology Unit at (919) 733- 2136 or another Unit representative at the same number. > The permittee is responsible for ensuring that toxicity testing is conducted according to the permit requirement and that toxicityreport forms are appropriately filed. > The reporting of whole effluent toxicity testing data is a dual requirement. All toxicity test results must be entered (with the appropriate parameter code) on your monthly Discharge Monitoring Report which is submitted to: North Carolina Division of Water Quality Central Files 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 IN ADDITION __ -Toxicity test data (original "AT" form) must be submitted to the following address: North Carolina Division of Water Quality Environmental Sciences Branch 1621 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1621 > Toxicity test results shall be filed with the Environmental Sciences Branch no later than 30 days after the end of the reporting period (eg, January test result is due by the end of February). > Toxicity test condition language contained in your NPDES permit may require use of multiple concentration toxicity testing upon failure of any single quarterly toxicity test. If the initial pass/fail test fails or if the chronic value is lower than the permit limit, then at least two multiple concentration toxicity tests (one per month) will be conducted over the following two months. As many analyses as can be completed will be accepted. If your NPDES permit does not require use of multiple concentration toxicity testing upon failure of any single, quarterly test, you may choose to conduct either single concentration toxicity testing or multiple concentration toxicity testing per the Division's WET enforcement initiatives effective July 1, 1999. Follow-up multiple concentration toxicity testing will influence the Division's enforcement response. > Toxicity testing months are specified by the NPDES Permit, except for NPDES Permits which contain episodic toxicity monitoring requirements (eg, if the testing months specified in your NPDES permit are March, June, September, and December, then toxicity testing must be conducted during these months). > Should the permittee fail to monitor during a month in which toxicity monitoring is required, then monthly monitoring will begin immediately until such time that a single test is passed. Upon passing this monthly test requirement, the permittee will revert to the quarterly months specified in the permit. Please note that your permit may or may not contain this language. > If your NPDES Permit specifies episodic monitoring and your facility does not have a discharge from January 1-June 30, then you must provide written notification to the Environmental Sciences Branch by June 30 that a discharge did not occur during the first six months of the calendar year. > If you receive notification from your contract laboratory that a test was invalidated, you should immediately notify the Environmental Sciences Branch at (919) 733-2136 and provide written documentation indicating why the test was invalidated and the date when follow-up testing will occur. > If your facility is required to conduct toxicity testing during a month in which no discharge occurs, you should complete the information block located at the top of the AT form indicating the facility name, permit number, pipe number, county and the month/year of the subject report. You should also write "No Flow" on the AT form, sign the form and submit following normal procedures. > The Aquatic Toxicity Test forms shall be signed by the facility's Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) except for facilities which have not received a facility classification. In these cases, a duly authorized facility representative must sign the AT form. The AT form must also be signed by the performing lab supervisor. > To determine if your AT test forms were received on time by the Division of Water Quality, you may consider submitting your toxicity test results certified mail, return receipt requested to the Environmental Sciences Branch.