HomeMy WebLinkAboutWQCS00005_NOV-2021-DV-0263_20210520MAILED
ROY COOPER
Governor
DIONNE DELLI GATTI
Secretary
S. DANIEL SMITH
Director
Certified Mail # 7020 3160 0000 2219 2429
Return Receipt Requested
Donald F Greeley, Director
City of Durham
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham, NC 27701-3329
NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
May 20, 2021
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION & INTENT TO ISSUE CIVIL PENALTY
Tracking No.: NOV-2021-DV-0263
Sanitary Sewer Overflows - April 2021
Collection System Permit No. WQCS00005
Durham Collection System
Durham County
Dear Mr. Greeley:
A review has been conducted of the self -reported Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO's) 5-Day Report/s submitted by
City of Durham. The Division's Raleigh Regional Office concludes that the City of Durham violated Permit Condition
I (2) of Permit No. WQCS00005 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.
The Raleigh Regional Office is providing the City of Durham an opportunity to provide evidence and justification as
to why the City of Durham should not be assessed a civil penalty for the violation(s) that are summarized below:
Total Vol
Total Surface
Incident Start Duration Vol Water
Number Date (Mins) Location Cause (Gals) (Gals) DWR Action
202101195 4/17/2021 200 #9 Yarmrunth Place Roots
202101217 4/21/2021 501 1010 Grant St Pipe Failure (Break)
DE
1,000 1,000 Notice of Violation
5,010 5,010 Notice of Violation —
Notice of Intent
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This Notice of Violation / Notice of Intent to Enforce (NOV/NOI) is being issued for the noted violation. Pursuant
:o 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 10 business days of its
receipt. 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.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mitchell Hayes with the Water Quality Section in
the Raleigh Regional Office at 919-791-4200 or via email at mitch.hayes•ncdenr.gov.
Sincerely,
Scott Vinson, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Raleigh Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
fc: Raleigh Regional Office - WQS File
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