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Home My WebLink AboutNC0020800_compliance (Remission_20200812DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F224595-63BD-4877-9D59-FB1E619EFA10 DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION FACTORS Case Number: LV-2020-0145 Assessed Entity: Region: Asheville County: Cherokee Andrews WWTP Permit: NC0020800 ❑ (a) Whether one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors were wrongly applied to the detriment of the petitioner: ✓ (b) Whether the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation: Permittee States: The WWTP "experienced extremely higher than usual flows for the last part of December 2019 and throughout most of the month of January 2020. There were several days in this timeframe that exceeded the daily permitted limit of the plant. This caused a hardship for the facility in being able to adequately treat the wastewater in our contact basin due to short- circuiting. It was an issue that operators contended with for the duration of the month in having to attempt to continually adjust chlorine levels to meet the demand. Although this course of action was taken, it was not always effective considering that a primary design flaw— that was formerly approved by the state and DEQ I might add— creates a situation where if the amount of wastewater flowing through the plant exceeds the holding capacity of the inner walls of the contact basin there is no legitimate way to prevent short- circuiting, which happened on several occasions throughout the month." DWR Response: The ARO wrote a letter in support of a grant application by the Town. The plant is difficult to operate. They have made significant progress in the past 3 years but need to do more upgrade projects ✓ (c) Whether the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident: Permittee States: "Under the circumstances ... without remedial actions taken by the operators, it could have affected the fecal coliform numbers for the whole month instead of just 7 or 8 days. Taking into consideration this reality, it is clear that the "violators" put forth their best good- faith effort to minimize and remediate the situation, and additionally that the violation itself was inadvertent". DWR Response: Good ORC who does his best with what he has. (d) Whether the violator had been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations: n (e) Whether payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary remedial actions: DECISION (Check One) Request Denied El Full Remission ❑ Retain Enforcement Costs? Ye❑ N❑ Original Penalty (without Enforcement Costs) $1500.00 Partial Remission ✓ 50% or $750.00 (amount remitted) DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F224595-63BD-4877-9D59-FB1E619EFA10 DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION FACTORS Subtotal Retaining Enforcement Costs $750.00 $137.32 Total Revised Assessment $837.32 Eyxm. C /(f4, 8328B44CE9EB4A1... S. Daniel Smith Partial remission was justified for both factors (b) and (c) DocuSigned by: 8/12/2020 Date DocuSign Envelope ID: 1 F224595-63BD-4877-9D59-FB1 E619EFA10 Weaver, Charles From: Heim, Tim Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 3:14 PM To: Weaver, Charles; Willmer, Mikal Cc: Davidson, Landon Subject: RE: remission requests from Andrews 50% for the WWTP, they continue working on getting funding for upgrades (I wrote a grant support letter last week) and that plant is difficult to operate. They have made significant progress in the past 3 years but need to do more upgrade projects. Good ORC who does his best with what he has. No remissions for the WTP, that was operator incompetence. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks Charles. -T From: Weaver, Charles Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 3:00 PM To: Heim, Tim <Tim.Heim@ncdenr.gov>; Willmer, Mikal <mikal.willmer@ncdenr.gov> Subject: FW: remission requests from Andrews Importance: High Have you guys had time to consider responses for the Division's response to these 5? We'll be discussing them tomorrow. You can edit the documents if you want, or just send me your comments. As always, thanks for your help. CHW 1 DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F224595-63BD-4877-9D59-FB1E619EFA10 JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST Case Number: LV-2020-0145 Assessed Party: Town of Andrews Permit No.: NC0020800 County: Amount Assessed: RECEIVED JUN 18 2020 Cherokee NCDEQ/DWR/NPDES $1,637.32 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); (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: . f'xpiance- 1'Djr7 4 -4 a C: hecA DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F224595-63BD-4877-9D59-FB1E619EFA10 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COUNTY OF CHEROKEE IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST Town of Andrews Andrews WWTP PERMIT NO. NC0020800 WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN ADNIINISTRATIVE HEARING AND STIPULATION OF FACTS CASE NO. LV-2020-0145 Having been assessed civil penalties totaling $1,637.32 for violation(s) as set forth in the assessment document of the Division of Water Resources dated June 04, 2020, 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 A/A RECEI\/ D JUN I 8 101O NCDEQ/DWRIt4rOES day of e_ ADDRESS ,20.20 o/ r4ndre NWTP y6 ' A'eayi -i d&"e, 4'/1,4-84,os, NC TELEPHONE fat -SS 7-S 3 0 DocuSign Envelope ID: 1 F224595-63BD-4877-9D59-FB1 E619EFA10 Justification for Remission Request RE: LV-2020-0145 RECEIVED JUN 18 2020 NCDEQIDWRINPDES The Town of Andrews formally requests remission of the civil penalties associated with Case #: LV-2020- 0145 for the month of January, 2020. This request is based upon factors (b) and (c) listed in the Justification for Remission Request form. In relation to factor (b) and (c) the Town of Andrews WWTP experienced extremely higher than usual flows for the last part of December 2019 and throughout most of the month of January 2020. There were several days in this timeframe that exceeded the daily permitted limit of the plant. This caused a hardship for the facility in being able to adequately treat the wastewater in our contact basin due to short-circuiting. It was an issue that operators contended with for the duration of the month in having to attempt to continually adjust chlorine levels to meet the demand. Although this course of action was taken, it was not always effective considering that a primary design flaw — that was formerly approved by the state and DEQ I might add — creates a situation where if the amount of wastewater flowing through the plant exceeds the holding capacity of the inner walls of the contact basin there is no legitimate way to prevent short-circuiting, which happened on several occasions throughout the month. Under the circumstances it is notable to realize that without remedial actions taken by the operators, it could have affected the fecal coliform numbers for the whole month instead of just 7 or 8 days. Taking into consideration this reality, it is clear that the "violators" put forth their best good -faith effort to minimize and remediate the situation, and additionally that the violation itself was inadvertent as it relates to the actions of the Town of Andrews and their wastewater treatment plant. The Town of Andrews has worked, and continues to work diligently in being proactive and improving the aging infrastructure of our wastewater treatment facility as is evident not only by our recent capital improvements, but also in the procuring of funding to make further improvements to our wastewater treatment despite these hard economic times that many small towns across our nation are experiencing. Therefore, the Town of Andrews respectfully requests remission of the noted violations for Case #: LV-2020-0145, either all or in part. Thank you. Timothy Wood Andrews WWTP-O.R.0 Andrews, NC wastewaterplant@andrewsnc.com (828)-557-8630 Docu • SECURED Certificate Of Completion Envelope Id: 1F22459563BD48779D59FB1E619EFA10 Subject: Please DocuSign: NC0020800_Remission decision_20200806.pdf Source Envelope: Document Pages: 6 Signatures: 1 Certificate Pages: 1 Initials: 0 AutoNav: Enabled Envelopeld Stamping: Enabled Time Zone: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) Status: Completed Envelope Originator: Charles Weaver 217 W. Jones Street Raleigh, NC 27699 charles.weaver@ncdenr.gov IP Address: 149.168.204.10 Record Tracking Status: Original Holder: Charles Weaver 8/6/2020 11:12:14 AM charles.weaver@ncdenr.gov Location: DocuSign Signer Events Signature Timestamp John Hennessy john.hennessy@ncdenr.gov DWR DEQ Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None) Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via DocuSign DocuSigned by "-8328B44CE9EB4A1... 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