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Home My WebLink AboutNCG530097_Compliance Evaluation Inspection_20210802 SENT VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL ONLY: NO HARD COPY WILL BE MAILED. August 02, 2021 David Deaton North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Email: david.deaton@ncwildlife.org SUBJECT: Compliance Inspection Report Armstrong Fish Hatchery NPDES WW Permit No. NCG530097 McDowell County Dear Permittee: The North Carolina Division of Water Resources conducted an inspection of the Armstrong Fish Hatchery on 7/13/2021. This inspection was conducted to verify that the facility is operating in compliance with the conditions and limitations specified in NPDES WW Permit No. NCG530097. The findings and comments noted during this inspection are provided in the enclosed copy of the inspection report entitled "Compliance Inspection Report". There were no significant issues or findings noted during the inspection and therefore, a response to this inspection report is not required. If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Lauren Armeni with the Water Quality Regional Operations Section in the Asheville Regional Office at 828-296-4500 or via email at lauren.armeni@ncdenr.gov. Sincerely, Lauren Armeni, Environmental Specialist Water Quality Regional Operations Section Asheville Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ ATTACHMENTS: Inspection Report Ec: LF DocuSign Envelope ID: 93A10EC6-2454-4776-AFFE-977C06BEEA41 EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Water Compliance Inspection Report Form Approved. OMB No. 2040-0057 Approval expires 8-31-98 Section A: National Data System Coding (i.e., PCS) Transaction Code NPDES yr/mo/day Inspection Type Inspector Fac Type 1 N 52 NCG530097 21/07/13 C S31112171819 20 21 66 Inspection Work Days Facility Self-Monitoring Evaluation Rating B1 QA ----------------------Reserved------------------- N67707172 73 74 75 80 Section B: Facility Data Name and Location of Facility Inspected (For Industrial Users discharging to POTW, also include POTW name and NPDES permit Number) Armstrong Fish Hatchery 3336 Armstrong Creek Rd Marion NC 28752 Entry Time/Date Permit Effective Date Exit Time/Date Permit Expiration Date 10:30AM 21/07/13 18/05/30 Name(s) of Onsite Representative(s)/Titles(s)/Phone and Fax Number(s) /// Other Facility Data 12:00PM 21/07/13 21/03/31 Name, Address of Responsible Official/Title/Phone and Fax Number Matthew Rimmer,3336 Armstrong Creek Rd Marion NC 28752//828-756-4179/8287560066 Contacted No Section C: Areas Evaluated During Inspection (Check only those areas evaluated) Permit Operations & Maintenance Records/Reports Self-Monitoring Program Facility Site Review Effluent/Receiving Waters Section D: Summary of Finding/Comments (Attach additional sheets of narrative and checklists as necessary) (See attachment summary) Name(s) and Signature(s) of Inspector(s)Agency/Office/Phone and Fax Numbers Date Lauren E Armeni DWR/ARO WQ/828-296-4500/ Signature of Management Q A Reviewer Agency/Office/Phone and Fax Numbers Date EPA Form 3560-3 (Rev 9-94) Previous editions are obsolete. Page#1 DocuSign Envelope ID: 93A10EC6-2454-4776-AFFE-977C06BEEA41 8/2/2021 8/2/2021 NPDES yr/mo/day 21/07/13 Inspection Type C3111218 1 Section D: Summary of Finding/Comments (Attach additional sheets of narrative and checklists as necessary) Lauren Armeni, with the Asheville Regional Office, conducted a Compliance Evaluation Inspection of the Armstrong Fish Hatchery on July 13, 2021. The inspection was conducted to determine if the system is being operated and maintained in compliance with General NPDES Permit No. NCG530000. David Deaton (Fish Production Supervisor) and Chuck Melton (Armstrong Hatchery Superintendent) were present during the inspection. No deficiencies were noted during the inspection. The Hatchery consists of 6 indoor tanks inside the hatchery building and 2 sets of outside raceways that are approximately 2 miles apart and designated as the upper end and lower end. There are 14 raceways on the upper end. Water is supplied to the upper end via 2 surface intakes from Armstrong Creek and Bee Rock Creek. All discharge from the upper end raceways goes into a drainage ditch and then discharges back into Armstrong Creek. Solids from the quiescent zones discharge into a nearby ditch and are removed from this ditch twice per month. The intake from Pups Branch feeds the Hatchery building and the discharge goes back into Pups Branch. The quiescent zones are cleaned daily During the inspection, it was noted that sampling has never been conducted at that outfall, even though the Best Management Practices Plan indicated there was an outfall there. Following the inspection, Mr. Deaton informed Ms. Armeni that he would have that outfall sampled. The Hatchery building outfall was sampled on July 22, 2021, and results are as follows: Total Suspended Solids: 3.4 mg/L, Total Settleable Solids - Non-Detect, Dissolved Oxygen - 7.78 mg/L, and Flow Estimate - 46.5 Gallons per Minute (GPM). There is a formaldehyde tote inside of the Hatchery building that sits on secondary containment. This secondary containment can hold the entire quantity of the tote if it were to be punctured or leak, and is therefore adequate to prevent a release to the floor drain. This floor drain discharges directly into Pups Branch. There are 20 raceways on the lower end. Water is supplied by an underground pipe with a surface intake from Armstrong Creek. All discharge from the lower end raceways drain into one main effluent pipe that discharge back into Armstrong Creek. The quiescent zones are cleaned twice per week. Material in the head boxes gets pumped out around 3 times per year. Water can be recirculated in both the upper end and lower end raceways if needed. NCG530097 17 (Cont.) Page#2 DocuSign Envelope ID: 93A10EC6-2454-4776-AFFE-977C06BEEA41 Permit:NCG530097 Inspection Date:07/13/2021 Owner - Facility: Inspection Type: Armstrong Fish Hatchery Compliance Evaluation Permit Yes No NA NE (If the present permit expires in 6 months or less). Has the permittee submitted a new application? Is the facility as described in the permit? # Are there any special conditions for the permit? Is access to the plant site restricted to the general public? Is the inspector granted access to all areas for inspection? The current Certificate of Coverage (CoC) is expired. General Permit NCG530000 is currently under review, and a new CoC will be issued once this General Permit is finalized. Comment: Operations & Maintenance Yes No NA NE Is the plant generally clean with acceptable housekeeping? Does the facility analyze process control parameters, for ex: MLSS, MCRT, Settleable Solids, pH, DO, Sludge Judge, and other that are applicable? The facility appeared to be well-maintained and operated at the time of the inspection.Comment: Record Keeping Yes No NA NE Are records kept and maintained as required by the permit? Is all required information readily available, complete and current? Are all records maintained for 3 years (lab. reg. required 5 years)? Are analytical results consistent with data reported on DMRs? Is the chain-of-custody complete? Dates, times and location of sampling Name of individual performing the sampling Results of analysis and calibration Dates of analysis Name of person performing analyses Transported COCs Are DMRs complete: do they include all permit parameters? Has the facility submitted its annual compliance report to users and DWQ? (If the facility is = or > 5 MGD permitted flow) Do they operate 24/7 with a certified operator on each shift? Is the ORC visitation log available and current? Is the ORC certified at grade equal to or higher than the facility classification? Page#3 DocuSign Envelope ID: 93A10EC6-2454-4776-AFFE-977C06BEEA41 Permit:NCG530097 Inspection Date:07/13/2021 Owner - Facility: Inspection Type: Armstrong Fish Hatchery Compliance Evaluation Record Keeping Yes No NA NE Is the backup operator certified at one grade less or greater than the facility classification? Is a copy of the current NPDES permit available on site? Facility has copy of previous year's Annual Report on file for review? NPDES Sampling Annual Reports and sampling data were provided for the past five years. All data was sufficient, and there were no exceedances. Comment: Effluent Pipe Yes No NA NE Is right of way to the outfall properly maintained? Are the receiving water free of foam other than trace amounts and other debris? If effluent (diffuser pipes are required) are they operating properly? Comment: Effluent Sampling Yes No NA NE Is composite sampling flow proportional? Is sample collected below all treatment units? Is proper volume collected? Is the tubing clean? # Is proper temperature set for sample storage (kept at less than or equal to 6.0 degrees Celsius)? Is the facility sampling performed as required by the permit (frequency, sampling type representative)? During the inspection, a third outfall was observed at the hatchery building that had never been sampled. See summary for details. Comment: Page#4 DocuSign Envelope ID: 93A10EC6-2454-4776-AFFE-977C06BEEA41