780091_DV-2021-0177 Remission (Request) Justification_20220418

JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST
Case Number: DV-2021-0177
Assessed Party: Murphy -Brown, LLC
Permit No.: AWS780091
County: Robeson
Amount assessed: $4,785.64
Please use this form when requesting remission of this civil penalty. You must also complete the
"Request For Remission, Waiver of Right to an Administrative Hearing, and Stipulation ofFacts"
form to request remission of this civil penalty. You should attach any documents that you believe
support your request and are necessary for the Director to consider in determining your request for
remission. Please be aware that a request for remission is limited to consideration of the five
factors listed below as they may relate to the reasonableness of the amount of the civil penalty
assessed. Requesting remission is not the proper procedure for contesting whether the violation(s)
occurred or the accuracy of any of the factual statements contained in the civil penalty assessment
document. By law [NCGS 133-215.6A(f)] remission of a civil penalty may be granted when one
or more of the following five factors applies. Please check each factor that you believe applies to
your case and provide a detailed explanation, including copies of supporting documents, as to why
the factor applies (attach additional pages as needed).
(a) one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors in NCGS 143B-282.1(b) were
wrongfully applied to the detriment of the petitioner (the assessment factors are
included in the attached penalty matrix and/or listed in the civil penalty assessment
document);
✓ (b) the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the
violation (i.e., explain the steps that you took to correct the violation and prevent
future occurrences);
✓ (c) the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident (i.e., explain why the
violation was unavoidable or something you could not prevent or prepare for);
,„/"7 (d) the violator had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations;
(e) payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary
remedial actions (i.e., explain how payment of the civil penalty will prevent you
from performing the activities necessary to achieve compliance).
EXPLANATION:
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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
COUNTY OF ROBESON
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST
MURPHY-BROWN, LLC
PERMIT NO. AWS780091
WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND
STIPULATION OF FACTS
FILE NO. DV-2021-0177
Having been assessed civil penalties totaling $4,785.64 for violation(s) as set forth in the
assessment document of the Division of Water Resources dated, February 23, 2022, the
undersigned, desiring to seek remission of the civil penalty, does hereby waive the right to an
administrative hearing in the above -stated matter and does stipulate that the facts are as alleged in
the assessment document. The undersigned further understands that all evidence presented in
support of remission of this civil penalty must be submitted to the Director of the Division of Water
Resources within thirty (30) days of receipt of' the notice of assessment. No new evidence in
support of a remission request will be allowed after thirty (30) days from the receipt of the notice
of assessment.
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This the I day of
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, 2022
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TELEPHONE

Smith.field,
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March 21, 2022
Miressa Garoma
Animal Feeding Operations Program
Division of Water Resources
1636 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1636
Subject: Request for Remission of
Civil Penalty Assessment for
Murphy-Brown, LLC Farm 5075 & 5076, Permit No.: AWS780091
Robeson County
Enforcement File No. DV-2021-0177
Dear Mr. Garoma,
M. Kevin Weston
Sr. Environmental Compliance Technical Specialist
Smithfield Hog Production Division
P.O. Box 856
2822 NC Hwy 24 West
Warsaw, NC 28398
(910} 293-3434 tel
(910} 293-3138 fax
This letter is a Request for Remission of Civil Penalty Assessment in response to the Assessment of Civil Penalties for
Violation(s) of 15A NCAC 2T .0105[e)[2) letter dated February 23, 2022, and received March 17, 2022, for the above­
mentioned farm.
This request for remission of penalty is based on the following factors:
1.The violation was inadvertent and a result of an accident. The discharge resulted from a leak in an irrigation
line that crossed a ditch, thus causing wastewater to flow into the farm's storm drainage system. This ditch
serves as a secondary containment as it has a slam gate in it near the property line where it leaves the farm,
however the slam gate was inadvertently left partially open to allow the release of the rainwater from the ditch.
2.The operator promptly abated continuing environmental damage. As soon as farm personnel discovered the
wastewater in the ditch near the property line, they immediately notified LMN staff. LNM staff immediately
closed the slam gate and called in a contractor with heavy equipment to block the ditch on the neighbor's
property, just above where the ditch enters the neighbor's pond. The flow was stopped and contained at this
point and remediation efforts began. No wastewater reached the pond. Water in the ditch, which was primarily
rainwa ter that was already in the ditch but was mixed with wastewater, was pumped and appl ied to the
application fields listed in the farm's Nutrient Management Plan through reels and splashpans. The incident
was discovered about 4:00 pm on Tuesday 10/12/2021 and remediation efforts started immediately. Once all
the water and wastewater mix was removed and applied to the fields, freshwater was then pumped from the
pond into the ditch to flush and further clean any traces of the wastewater from the ditch. This flush of
freshwater was also removed from the ditch and applied to the application fields. These remediation efforts
continued over a period of four days and ended about 1:00 pm on Saturday 10/16/2021. DEQ was notified
within 24 hours of discovery as required by the permit and was on-site both Tuesday night and Wednesday
morning to inspect the incident and recovery efforts. See attached copy of follow-up letter for additional details.
3.The farm operation had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations.
[e-mail]
www.smithfieldfoods.com
Our Environmental Management System (EMS) proved its effectiveness by providing the structure and protocol that
ensured the incident was discovered quickly and appropriate corrective actions and notifications were done in a timely
and effective manner. All required corrective actions and requested information has been provided to DEQ. In addition,
the following actions have been taken:
• Farm personnel and LNM staff have been retrained on operating and inspecting secondary containments, slam
gates and irrigation lines,
• Repairs have been made to the irrigation line as needed.
Thanks for your consideration of this remission request. If you have further questions or need additional information
regarding this matter, please contact me.
Sincerely,
M. Kevin Weston

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October 18, 2021
Steve Guyton; Katie Fontenot
NCDENR — Division of Water Resources
225 Green Street- Suite 714
Fayetteville, NC 28301-5094
RE: Farm 50753, 50763 Tree Farm
Facility # 78-091
Accidental Discharge 10-12-21
PO Box 856
Warsaw, NC 28398
This letter is the follow up to the accidental discharge at Farm 50753, 50763 that was reported
to the Division on October 12, 2021.
Sequence of Events:
1) LNM staff were leaving the farm about 4:00 pm, Tuesday 10-12-21, as they turned out of
farm driveway, they saw wastewater in the ditch at the road. They immediately began
calling to get response team activated. When I was notified, I asked if the water had
crossed the road? They said yes, I then in turn notified DEQ.
a. Spill was later determined to have been caused by a leak in an irrigation line that
crossed the ditch.
2) LNM Staff closed the slam gate at the road. We also called in a Contractor, who used his
heavy equipment to block the ditch on the neighbor's property right before their pond.
3) We set up an irrigation pump in the ditch across the road and started land applying the
water in the ditch to the field with a reel. We also set up trash pumps at point of spill and
pumped this water on to our field. It is important to note that the water being applied was
primarily stormwater that was already in the ditch but was mixed with the spilled effluent.
The field across the road is in the farm's NUP as an amendment. Crop applied was cover
crop behind corn. These remediation efforts continued thru the night.
4) Wednesday 10-13-21, we continued land applying with the one reel and we also added a
second reel and pump at the slam gate. The DEQ representative returned, reviewed our
remediation efforts, and took several water samples at various stages. The 2nd pump at
slam gate ran out of water about 6 pm and we shut it off. The 1st pump and reel we
continued to run again all night. It ran out of water about 6:30 am the next morning.
5) Thursday 10-14-21, we continued the remediation efforts. We moved the 15t pump to the
dam at the pond and continued pumping with a splash pan on the field until about 3pm. To
ensure the cleanup was to the standards of our EMS program, we set up 2nd pump in the
freshwater pond, and laid flat hose to a point above where wastewater had entered the
ditch. This allowed us to flush the ditch with fresh water and to continue pumping back out.
These remediation efforts continued until about 9 pm, which we shut the slam gate.
6) Friday 10-15-21, we resumed flushing the ditch with fresh water and as it flowed to the
dam at the pond, we pumped this on the field. We continued the remediation efforts until 7
pm with the splash pan.
7) Saturday 10-16-21, we resumed pumping the water out of the ditch. We continued the
remediation efforts until all the water we could pump was out, which was about 1 pm.

• Page 2 October 20, 2021
8) We will continue to check the ditch and when we are satisfied, we will remove the dam to
the pond sometime this week.
Estimate of discharge:
A) With the run time of the transfer event, 12:30 pm to 4 pm, and the amount recovered
from the ditch on the property and across the road, we are estimating 10,000 gallons
to 15,000 gallons left the property.
Plan for corrective actions from this accidental discharge:
1) Retrain staff on closing slam gates that are put in critical points, while doing irrigation
events.
2) Inspect other irrigation lines on the farm that cross ditches.
3) Contractor to repair broken irrigation line and case line where crosses ditch.
Attachments:
A) Included with this letter is a copy of the most current waste analysis as required by the
permit along with a copy of the estimate of discharge press release as required by NC
Statutes, Article 21, Chapter 143.2215C.
I have outlined all currently available information about this incident. Smithfield staff has responded in
an appropriate and responsible manner in accordance with our Environmental Management System
emergency response plan and in keeping with our responsibilities under the state permit.
Our Environmental Management System (EMS) proved its' effectiveness by providing the structure and
protocol that all parties involved in the response and ensuring, that they did so in a timely and effective
manner.
If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Mike Cudd
Environmental Systems Manager
Murphy -Brown LLC
[phone]