WQ0003396_Staff Report_20201216

ROY COOPER
Governor
MICHAEL S. REGAN
Secretary
S. DANIEL SMITH
Director
Memorandum
NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
December 15, 2020
To:
Lauren Plummer
Water Quality Permitting Section -Non Discharge Branch, Central Office
From:
Eric Rice
WQROS, Raleigh Regional Office
Through:
Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Superviso
WQROS, Raleigh Regional Office
Subject:
Major Modification
Arauco Moncure WWTF
985 Cornith Road
Moncure, N.C.- Chatham County
Permit # WQ0003396
Enclosed is the regional staff report regarding the submittal of a major permit modification
for the Arauco Moncure WWTF facility. The submittal is regarding the request to raise the berm
two feet above the one hundred (100) year floodplain for pond 5D. A site inspection was conducted
as part of the review process. Please contact me at [phone] if you have any questions.
cc: file
Attachment: WQROSR form
DepartmentNorth Carolina
RaleighRegion, :00 Barrett DriveRaleigh, North I Carolina09

State of North Carolina
Division of Water Resources
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Envilronmenuil Staff Report
Quality
Date: December 15, 2020
To: ❑ NPDES Unit ® Non -Discharge Unit
Attn: Lauren Plummer, Water Quality Permitting Section
Non Discharge Branch
From: Eric Rice
Raleigh Regional Office
RE: Major Permit Modification
I. GENERAL AND SITE VISIT INFORMATION
1. Was a site visit conducted? ® Yes or ❑ No
a. Date of site visit: December 4, 2020
Permit No.: WQ0003396
Facility name: Arauco - Moncure WWTF
b. Site visit conducted by: Eric Rice and Lauren Plummer (CO)
c. Inspection report attached? ❑ Yes or ® No
d. Person contacted on site: Savannah Carroll (Arauco) and Eric Messina (Civ. & Env. Consultants) (980-260-
2131)
2. Site inspection observations/notes: The permit modification request is for the raising of the berm elevation of
pond 5D two feet above the 100-year flood plain. Ponds 5D and adjacent Pond 5C were inspected by walking
around the perimeter of the ponds. The north and south ends of the ponds as well as the eastern sides were
observed. The western side was not inspected due to the operation of equipment in that area. What appeared to be
wetland areas lie near the eastern boundary of the ponds. It was stated that earlier in the week the Army Corp of
Engineers had been on site to inspect the wetland areas. It was indicated that approximately one half acre of
wetlands would be impacted by the permit modification actions. Arauco staff indicated that the EMC meeting
scheduled for January 2021 is important to a decision regarding impact to site wetlands related to the permit
modification. The modification of the 5D berm will result in the loss of some portion of Pond 5C. At the time of
the inspection it was indicated that 5D had 1.1 feet of freeboard and 5C had .9 feet of freeboard. Spray fields are
nonoperational and the ability to activate the spray system has been nearly disabled. Raising the berm will require
disposal of some volume of pond solids. Disposal methods for the solids had not been determined at the time of
the inspection. The facility connected to municipal wastewater in October -November 2020. It should be noted that
a Special Order by Consent (SOC) is active for the facility due to earlier actions at the site.
H. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1. List any items that you would like the NPDES Unit or Non -Discharge Unit Central Office to obtain through an
additional information request:
Item I Reason
Resolution to what
method/s of disposal of the
pond solids should be
resolved prior to approval
I' + : • impact issue
�i
Necessary information
FORM: WQROSSR 04-14 Page 1 of 2

The material that will be
utilized to raise the berms
should be identified and
evaluated so that if can be
confirmed that the source is
free from any
Necessary information
contaminants, etc. If there
is some question about the
quality of the source, then
testing should be
considered.
#3 of part VI. of the
application was not
Required
completed
#8 of part VI was answered
as unknown for depth to
bedrock. In the second part
of the question the
applicant indicates that the
bedrock is not less than
four feet. Depth to bedrock
Required
or a depth that defines
where the bedrock is
greater than the depth
explored should available
in the well borning logs of
the LMW wells.
#9 of the application is
answered as N/A but the
mean seasonal high water
Required
table is not provided.
Provide mean seasonal high
water table value
. Recommendation: Recommend moving forward with approval after the preceding questions have been addressed
and any issues related to the SOC align with the modification approval.
3. Signature of report preparer:
Signature of regional supervisor: _
Date:
M. ADDITIONAL REGIONAL STAFF REVIEW ITEMS
FORM: WQROSSR 04-14 Page 2 of 2