NC0085839_US Department of the Interior Memo_19961030

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• 10:96/96 W71) 18:58 FAX [phone] USFVPS-RALEIGH,NC 002
4p `i%�F United States Department of the Interior
y FISHANDWILDLIFESERVICE
)12 Raleigh Field Office
Pat OEGcc Isom S3726
Tr • Raleigh,North Carolina 276363726
October 30, 1996
Mr. Dave Goodrich
Division of Water Quality
North Carolina Department of Environment,
Health and Natural Resources
Post Office Box 29535
Raleigh, North Carolina 27626-0535
Dear rdich
M .-oo
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reviewed the public notice—
and draft permit for the proposed new National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) discharge sought by the
UNIMIN Corporation (draft permit number N00085839) . The facility
proposes to discharge treated industrial wastewater and
stormwater at a rate of 0.682 million gallons per day into the
North Toe River, a Class C-Trout stream. Aa depicted on maps ;,, --
provided to the Division of Water Quality's (DWQ) Biological
Assessment Group on February 13, 1996, this portion of the North
Toe River is known habitat for the federally-listed endangered
Appalachian elktoe (Alasmidonta ravens/lam) . These comments are
submitted in accordance with the provisions of the Fish and
Wildlife Coordination Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 661-667e) and
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S. 1531-
1543) (Act) . Service comments are within the timeframe of an
extension granted by M . Susan Wilson of your staff during an
October 22nd telephone call on the subject public notice.
The service's primary concern with the draft permit relates to
the proposed discharge of up to 284 pounds per day of suspended
:solids to a stream which is not meeting the North Carolina water
duality standard for turbidity. The Service retrieved STORET
water quality monitoring data for two stations in the subject
drainage: station #E8100000 at Penland, NC on the North Toe River
upstream of the proposed discharge, and station #E9990000 at
Poplar, NC on the Nolichucky River downstream from the proposed
discharge. A review of turbidity data from these stations from
1990 to the present indicates that ambient water quality on the
North Toe River at Penland exceeded the State's 10 NTU turbidity
standard for protection of trout waters on 12 of 61 sampling
events (20%) . Over the same time interval, the turbidity
standard was exceeded on 13 of 60 sampling events at the Poplar
station (22%) . These data indicate that the turbidity standard
is not being met; they further indicate that there is no
assimilative capacity for additional loading of solids or other
turbidity-producing wastes in these waters.

10/30/96 WED 16:59 FAX [phone] USFWS-RALEIGH.NC lit0'O3
We discussed the results of our analysis of the STORET data with
Mr. Michael Parker of the DWQ'a Regional Office in Asheville. He
indicated that the exceedences were likely the result of nonpoint
source pollution in the basin. The Service believes that source
identification is important in remedying the cause of water
quality degradation, but the sources do not appear relevant to a
decision on permitting additional loads. Regardless Of the
sources, existing water quality is failing to meet state
standards on one-fifth of all sampling events .
The Service realizes that the draft permit is conditioned with a
narrative qualifier to the proposed turbidity limit which states,
"If the turbidity exceeds 10 NTU due to natural conditions, the
discharge shall not cause an increase in turbidity. " The Service
recommends against this approach for two reasons. First, it is
now known that turbidity exceeds the standards; while the sources
of the exceedences are not yet known, "natural conditions" have
not been defined for the receiving waters. Second, the proposed
discharge contains eettleable solids which would likely
contribute to instream turbidity. Although the Instream Waste
Concentration is low (1.2 percent of 7Q10 flow) , the addition of
settleable solids to a stream exceeding water quality criteria,
is not sound.
The Service has additional concerns about the proposed permit.
we would be pleased to discuss these concerns in more detail, but
they are secondary to the assimilative capacity issue:
o There is a lack of data on the tolerance of freshwater
mussels to fluoride, and the degree of protectiveness of the
proposed fluoride limit to this taxa is not known. We note
that the Appalachian elktoe population in this portion of
the North Toe River is stable and apparently not affected by
fluoride loadings approximately 25 miles upstream near
Spruce Pine, NC. While ambient fluoride concentrations in
the area of the proposed discharge appear protective now,
the effect of additional loadings within this known habitat
is not known. We encourage no exceedence of the existing
fluoride levels at the proposed discharge location.
Alternately, toxicity tests with sensitive lifestages
(glochidia and juveniles) of a surrogate mussel species
should be employed to help determine the tolerance of the
Appalachian elktoe to fluoride loadings and ensure the
adequacy of the proposed fluoride discharge limit.
o More frequent sampling of the stormwater management system
appears necessary (the proposed annual sampling would be
adequate only after a series of samples following rain
events demonstrated the new system's efficacy) ;
o Previous fish kills in the drainage, associated with
chemical spills, indicate the need for failsafe measures in
the stormwater and spill countermeasures components of the
system; and,

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10/30/96 PLD 16:59 FAX [phone] USFWS-RALEIGH,NC e004
o There appears to be the
PP potential for additional solids and
fluoride removal via sand filters, rotating drum systems, or
other measures.
The Service embraces a basinwide water quality management
approach, but the. first step should be to identify where
standards are not being met and redress sources of impairment.
We suggest that the applicant and DWQ work to identify and
rectify the source(s) of the current exceedences of turbidity
standards to restore ambient water quality. it is particularly
important that involved parties work to remedy existing
exceedences of water quality standards prior to additional
loadings given the trout waters designation and the presence of
the Appalachian elktoe.
While the proposed discharge is relatively minor in terms of
overall flow in the North Toe River, the Service views it as a
step in the wrong direction and recommends that this permit not
be issued in its current form. If remedial efforts result in the
North Toe River regaining assimilative capacity for turbidity
producing wastes, or if the applicant treats the effluent to
eliminate turbidity-producing components from the discharge, the
Service will re-evaluate the action.
Please keep us informed of the status of this proposed action,
including any official determination. We have contacted the
applicant and plan to discuss our concerns with them soon. We
would be pleased to meet with you to discuss our concerns in more
detail. If you would like to meet, or if you have any questions
about this report, please contact me at the address above, by
phone at (919) 856-4520 x,21, or via email at
'.Com Augspurgerema3 l .fws,gov.
Sincerely,
/lc: /1
Tom Augspur 1"
Ecologist
cc: Wilson, NCDWQ, Raleigh
Parker, NCDWQ, Asheville
Hughes, UNIMIN Corp. , Spruce Pine
Pridell, USFWS, Asheville
Coudreau, NCWRC, Marion
Powell, USEPA, Atlanta, GA
PWS/R4 :TAugspurger:TA:10-28-96:919/856-4520x.21:wp51\unimin.fnl

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