WQCS00147_NOV-2021-DV-0453 RSP_20211116

AOUA
November 11, 2021
Mr. Scott Vinson, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations
Raleigh Regional Office
1628 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1628
Re: Notice of Violation and Intent to Issue Civil Penalty
Neuse Colony Collection System, Johnston County
Collection System Permit No. WQCS00147
NOV-2021-DV-0453
Dear Mr. Vinson:
NC Dept of Environmental Quality
NOV 16 2021
Raleigh Regional Office
Aqua North Carolina, Inc. (Aqua) offers the following response to the above -referenced Notice of Violation
and Intent to Issue Civil Penalty, which was issued for power outage, pump station equipment failure on
September 29, 2021 for Sanitary Sewer Overflows 5-Day Report.
Aqua's Response:
Aqua appreciates the opportunity to provide additional information on this event. Our
investigation into this Sanitary Sewer Overflow found that the generator automatic transfer
switch (ATS), and one of two digital inputs on the Omni Beacon alarm monitor had failed
ultimately contributing to the SSO occurrence. Our records prove that the generator was
inspected and serviced by our third -party vendor just last May. Records show that the Aqua
technician was performing his required visits to this site as well as performing the tasks
associated with these visits. Records also show that the telemetry was in working order when
the technician last tested it during his required visit. The only anomaly related to this situation
are the power "blips" that Duke power was experiencing in the area of this lift station at the
time of this overflow event. Therefore, Aqua is unable to identify and correct an internal root
cause for this overflow event. Aqua believes that the power" blips" confirmed and experienced
by Duke power, caused the full transfer of power to fail when the Lift Station called for it and
ultimately caused this unfortunate sewer overflow. As an additional mitigation factor, please
note that the wastewater treatment plant operator noticed a reduction in the daily flow at the
wastewater treatment plant that morning and notified the collection system team to start the
investigation. They immediately began the investigation and stopped the SSO almost
immediately. This prompt and diligent action by Andy Stevens, the ORC at the Neuse Colony
Wastewater Treatment Plant, reduced the time during which the SSO could have occurred, and
is exemplary of a good operator fully performing his duties. Based upon our investigation, no
operator made any error, and all appropriate operation and maintenance of the system were
completed.
202 MacKenan Court, Cary, NC 27511 • 919.467.8712 • AquaAmerica.com

cc: Joseph Pearce
Amanda Berger
Shannon Becker
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