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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWQCS00005_NOV-2021-DV-0419_20211005ROY COOPER Governor ELIZABETH S. BISER Secretory S. DANIEL SMITH Director Certified Mail # 7020 3160 0000 2219 3068 Return Receipt Requested Donald F Greeley, Director of Water Resources City of Durham 101 City Hall Plaza Durham, NC 27701-3329 NORTH CAROLINA Environmental Quality October 05, 2021 SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION & INTENT TO ISSUE CIVIL PENALTY Tracking No.: NOV-2021-DV-0419 Sanitary Sewer Overflows - August 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 202101692 8/3/2021 480 3311 Shannon Road Debris in line 202101722 8/9/2021 250 4428 Sunvalley Drive Debris in line 2,400 2,400 Notice of Violation — Notice of Intent 500 500 Notice of Violation North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources Raleigh Regional Office 13600 Barrett Drive I Raleigh. North Caroline 27609 919.791.4200 This Notice of Violation / Notice of Intent to Enforce (NOV/NOI) is being issued for the noted violation. Pursuant to 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, ,i,,,T,s1/,,- Scott Vinson, Regional Supervisor Water Quality Regional Operations Section Raleigh Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ Cc: Raleigh Regional Office - WQS File Laserfiche _11)1,9- North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality 1 DINNort of Water Resources Raleigh Regional Office 1 MOO Barrett Drhe 1 Raleigh North Carogna 27609 919.793.4200