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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLtr to A. Pitner, NCDEQ RE Linco Response and Lagoon Closure Plan 05 04 23.PDFSTITES & HARBISON PLLC A T T O R N E Y S May 4, 2023 VIA EMAIL TO: andrew.Pitner(&ncdenr.gov Andrew H. Pitner, P.G. Acting Regional Supervisor Morehead Regional Office Division of Water Resources North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality 512 North Salisbury Street 1611 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1611 250 West Main Street Suite 2300 Lexington, KY 40507-1758 (859) 226-2300 (859) 253-9144 FAX www.stites.com William T. Gorton III (859) 226-2241 DIRECT (859) 312-7300 MOBILE (859) 253-9144 FAX Wgorton(c.Stites.com KY Bar #: 83623 PA Bar #: 53009 RE: Response and Lagoon Closure Plan Linco Partnership Permit No. WQ0003924 Wastewater Irrigation System Lincoln County, North Carolina Dear Mr. Pitner, On behalf of Linco Partnership ("Linco"), owner of property located at 288 Whitehouse Drive, Lincolnton, North Carolina 28093 ("Site" or "Property"), this letter responds to your April 5, 2023 letter. The discussions describe the rationale behind the sequencing and provide a status report of the full spectrum of remedial activities at the property, including those of concern to the NCDEQ Division of Water Resources ("Division"), along with plans for addressing remaining Site conditions including the lagoon closure. Finally, we respond to the NOVs cited in your letter. The recent letter regarding the status of conditions at the Property and NOVs seems to presume that the wastewater facilities, formerly operated and abandoned by former tenant, Celadon Recycling Solutions ("Celadon"), was/is operational rather than a component in the comprehensive Property remediation project once Linco was contracted. The letter does not recognize the necessary orderly approach undertaken by Linco in remediating the many environmental violations that Celadon was allowed to accumulate during its tenure at the Site and the significant work and expense that Linco, as the Property owner, has and continues to experience since becoming aware of actual Site conditions and violations. It wasn't until January 22, 2021 that Linco was even informed of Site and operational violations by Celadon until requested to attend a conference call with numerous state and federal agencies who had been observing and investigating Celadon's activities for several years. It was only during that conference call that Linco became aware of an open floodgate of environmental - related violations and Site conditions created by Celadon requiring investigation, planning and ultimately, costly remediation. www.stites.com STITES &HARBISONPLLC A T T 0 H N E Y 5 Andrew H. Pitner, P.G. May 4, 2023 Page 2 As a result of those investigations, upon learning of the Celadon practices, and in order to get its Property in compliance and to protect its investment, Linco engaged this firm and North Carolina engineering/environmental consultants to immediately began investigations to understand the situation and develop an economically feasible and practicable framework to comprehensively address the multimedia concerns. Those initial efforts included extensive discussions and interviews with representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") including Region 4 attorneys and multiple divisions within the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality ("NCDEQ") resulting in Linco agreeing to undertake the obligations as described below, in good faith as a remediation/abatement context, not as the operator. Apparently, it was well known by the regulatory agencies that the Celadon operation was problematic, as we were also informed that state and federal environmental criminal investigations of Celadon were being conducted. It appears, however, that no administrative, civil or criminal charges were brought against Celadon or its operating officials, rather, the agencies decided to eventually engage Linco. Nevertheless we are pleased to say that many of the concerns originally expressed by the Division have been addressed and the remaining ones, as discussed below, are scheduled for active remediation or closure this year. REMEDIATION PLAN TASKS AND STATUS The following discussions address the sequencing of tasks undertaken, underway and planned by Linco in remediating Site conditions left by Celadon. • Orderly Investigations: Triage Remediation Projects. From a starting point of not understanding anything about the Site conditions and to address the multiple issues associated with the Celadon operation in an orderly fashion, the Linco representatives discussed with EPA officials and EPA Region 4 counsel along with senior administrators at NCDEQ (including your Division) that in cooperation with regulatory officials, Linco would triage the Property conditions in order to determine which concerns were of highest priority. As a matter of fact, the plan was the subject of a letter to Cory Bassinger dated May 3, 2021 (See Attachment A). It was very difficult to understand not only the history and business operations of Celadon (and its relationships to similar sites), but the nature and extent of Celadon's malfeasance in general and question how Celadon was able to improperly operate such regulated activities. • NCDEQ Suspected Hazardous Waste Totes. With the recommendation of the state and federal agencies, it was decided that the first issues to be addressed would be the NCDEQ-identified z300 totes on -site suspected by NCDEQ of containing hazardous waste similar to the Hudson Site. After significant study of the STITES &HARBISONPLLC A T T 0 H N E Y 5 Andrew H. Pitner, P.G. May 4, 2023 Page 3 situation, Linco addressed that situation by contracting with two hazardous -waste testing and disposal entities, U.S. Waste Inc. and HazMat. Those suspected totes were sampled, tested, classified, and disposed at significant expense to abate the immediate concerns raised by both agencies. Along with addressing the "suspect" 300 totes, Linco continued Site analysis to locate many other suspected hazardous waste totes and barrels scattered and hidden throughout the entire facility and other buildings and to inventory, classify, and organize over 2,800 totes. Many "open" top totes containing various unidentified viscous and sludge materials found in the main building and other out -buildings were also identified, tested and ultimately disposed. • Initial Lagoon Testing. In response to the Division and EPA's expressed initial concerns about the lagoon, which your staff (and EPA) suspected of containing hazardous constituents, concurrently with finding and organizing other suspect totes, Linco engaged Shield Engineering to conduct water quality, sludge sampling and laboratory testing of the on -site lagoon and EQ Tank. The report, dated July 2021, was submitted to EPA and NCDEQ. Those results demonstrated that the fluids were not hazardous and actually meet the North Carolina requirements for wastewater treatment facilities. With that positive demonstration, activities continued according to the sequence of dealing with high NCDEQ/EPA priority issues. • Pits Waste Disposal/Remediation. As part of the protocols for addressing water -related features at the facility, Linco engaged HazMat to sample, test, drain, de -sludge and clean the two -chamber pit at the rear of the facilities, which was completed on June 14, 2021, as reported by Shield Engineers to Ed Watson. Shortly thereafter, and following further discussions with Mr. Watson, Linco engaged HEPACO to sample, test and address the major water and sludge over -capacity concrete pit at the front of the structure, which was remediated between February 10-23, 2022. Both projects are described in the report dated September 22, 2022 (See Attachment B and pictures). • EQ Tank. Continuing with the orderly sequence of the remediation/closure plans, the next major task in addressing concerns at the facility, particularly one of primary concern within your jurisdiction, was addressing the EQ Tank, which contained approximately 350,000 gallons of fluids. Those efforts included sampling, testing, planning, seeking qualified vendors and ultimately contracting with Shamrock Environmental for fluids and sludge testing and disposal. Those significant efforts abated any danger of overflow addressing one of the major fluids - related facilities on the Property. Those efforts were described in a letter report from Linco's engineers dated January 24, 2023 (See Attachment C and pictures). The EQ Tank stainless steel STITES &HARBISONPLLC A T T 0 H N E Y 5 Andrew H. Pitner, P.G. May 4, 2023 Page 4 is a subject of interest to various scrap metal recycling vendors and will be addressed for removal later this year. It is disconnected from any internal building facilities. Along with the EQ Tank, Celadon stored (hid) wastewater in numerous vessels and tanks throughout the Property including a tanker truck, two portable frac tanks and other above -ground storage tanks. As part of the EQ Tank remediation project, those vessels were also addressed. • 2.800 Totes Disnosal. Since engaging the remediation project, Linco had been studying the nature and extent of the 2,800 IBC fluid and sludge -containing totes that had been illegally accumulated on the Property. A major aspect of this task has been inventorying, classifying, moving the totes and organizing them for handling by contractors. Linco consulted with numerous technical professionals, interviewed former Celadon employees, other tote wastewater treatment companies and experienced contractors (including those involved at the Hudson site), developed tote testing protocols in cooperation with NCDEQ, solicited and evaluated proposals ultimately contracting with HEPACO for the sampling, testing, fluids, sludge handling and tote disposal. Those intensive multi -task efforts are presently underway and are expected to be completed this summer. • Celadon Facilitv/Eauibment Dismantling and Removal. Concurrently with the initiation of the tote sampling, testing and materials disposal, Linco arranged for the dismantling and removal of the Celadon water and wastewater facilities and equipment housed in the structure. After dewatering the equipment, all but one piece has been removed from the building, all of which will be moved offsite by sale or scrapping (See pictures, Attachment D). • Laizoon Closure. As has been discussed with you and members of your staff numerous times, it was and continues to be Linco's intention to pursue Site remediation in good -faith by addressing the priority issues and economically feasible manner. Once it was determined that the lagoon had good water quality and was only subject to receiving precipitation, it was logical to defer the lagoon closure task until the other high -priority and expensive waste -related issues were addressed. Linco is now turning its attention to the closure plan for the lagoon and the proposed Lagoon Closure Plan, which will be forwarded by Linco's engineers. • Summary. As discussed above, you can see that Linco has demonstrated good faith and cooperation and been more than responsive to regulatory obligations in order to abate environmental risks, STITES &HARBISONPLLC A T T 0 H N E Y 5 Andrew H. Pitner, P.G. May 4, 2023 Page 5 bring the Property into environmental compliance and protect economic interests that it may still have in the Property given the facts and circumstances of this entire matter. Although it was not the operator that created the violating conditions on the Property, nobody can doubt that Linco has stepped up to address them and plans to continue the process until the Property is restored to its pre-Celadon condition. NOV-, The following discussions address the "continuing" violations cited in your April 5, 2023 letter and also provide information related to how Linco will address those relevant and applicable concerns as appropriate for the Site conditions. It is clear that most of the violations preceded Linco's remediation efforts and are the result of Celadon's non-compliance activities. Violation No. 1 - Operator in Responsible Charge. As we have discussed several times, there have been no operations on the Site of which to be in charge. As noted above, Linco's activity on its Property is a 100% remediation project and no operations under the permit have taken place at all since remediation activities began. Further, the activities taken by Linco to have the Celadon systems dismantled and removed, the EQ Tank disconnected, dewatered and de-sludged, clearly indicate that there have not been and are no permit -related active operations whatsoever at this time. Notwithstanding those facts, when the lagoon closure activities do begin, as discussed in the attached Lagoon Closure Plan, Linco intends to acquire the services of an appropriate certified professional to be responsible for those efforts. Violation No. 2 - Operation and Maintenance. a) Equipment. As discussed above, the mechanical portions of the Celadon facilities ceased operations prior to Linco's remediation project. Fluids were removed and disposed and the system has been totally dismantled with the exclusion of the pump house below the EQ Tank. There were no operations at all after Celadon abandoned the Site and maintenance of those aspects of the system is moot. Linco has taken every step to prevent the discharge of any wastewater that might have been contained in the system from being discharged. Those activities included pumping and cleaning the external pits and draining and disposing all the materials in the EQ Tank, which was at capacity and other vessels. Linco has worked in good faith to address the potential of diverting or bypassing wastewater. b) Sump Pits. The sump pits identified in the April 5, 2023 letter at the rear of the building have been tested and cleaned and are being retested at the request of the Division to demonstrate that any water in them is rainwater from the parking lot and not wastewater. Those results should be available in the very near future. As part of its final internal building cleanup, Linco plans to have the floor drains washed following the ongoing tote removal program. STITES &HAR.BISONPUC A T T 0 H N E Y 5 Andrew H. Pitner, P.G. May 4, 2023 Page 6 c) Lagoon Liner. Regarding the lagoon, the Division was aware that the lagoon liner was damaged when Celadon operated at the Site and as discussed above, that closing the lagoon was deemed to be the final task in remediating the entire facility in light of the other Site conditions creating the threat of seeps or leaks from on -site totes and drums that were allowed to accumulate. Further, it is economically infeasible and impracticable to repair and replace the liner and such effort would be for naught as the Lagoon Closure Plan calls for complete lagoon liner removal including disposal of the liner once the water is drained. It is anticipated that those activities will be completed during the 2023 construction season. Violation No. 3 - Site Monitoring. As noted above, there has been no activity on the Site whatsoever associated with the permit since Celadon abandoned the Site. Celadon's equipment has not been used at all. Linco's on -site representative, Alan Lynch, has conducted monthly lagoon water levels, which can be made available, however, the facility was and is inoperable. Overall, there was no quantitative permit activity to monitor, and Linco's financial resources have been used for substantive abatement and remedial activities. The EQ Tank (and numerous other tanks and fluid storage vessels) have been completely drained of any wastewaters and any reporting requirements related to it are also moot. CONCLUSION Linco, in cooperation with North Carolina and EPA officials, has engaged in a comprehensive Site remediation program on its Lincolnton property at great expense. Many of the conditions created by Celadon that accumulated over several years have and are being abated in good faith by Linco. Linco respectfully requests that the Division take no further administrative actions on this matter as it continues to make substantial progress in completing the remediation activities remaining on the Property. As Linco prepares to address the lagoon closure, we look forward to your support and cooperation. Sincerely, William T. Gorton III WTG/lhr Attachments cc: Linco CDG Engineers Brent Burch 864677:6 Attachment A Linco Partnership 5200 Old Harding Road Franklin, TN 37064 Office 615-799-0933 May 3, 2021 VIA EMAIL AND USPS MAIL TO: c�►rcy.hasin��cr�n ncdcnr.�o� W. Corey Basinger, Regional Supervisor North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources Mooresville Regional Office 610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301 Mooresville, NC 28115 RE: Linco Partnership, Permit No. WQ0003924 NOV-2021-OV-0002 Dear Mr. Basinger, This letter is in response to your letter dated April 13, 2021 and is intended to provide you with an update on activities at the Lincolnton, NC property owned by Linco Partnership where a tote washing and recycling facility has been operated by Celadon. As you know, many of the operational and site condition concerns regarding the property came to our attention as a result of the January 22, 2021 conference call with NC DEQ and US EPA officials. Following that call, our representatives have been in contact with federal, state and local officials regarding the property and plans for 1) understanding the situation and regulatory concerns; and 2) addressing them appropriately. Although Linco was and is not the operator of the facilities on site, Linco has every intent to support and maintain environmental compliance on its property and protect its investment, security interests and value. As the owner of the property, in order to understand the situation on the ground Linco has engaged independent engineering and environmental professionals, Charlotte based Shield Engineering. Shield Engineering is assisting regarding compliance by studying site conditions including testing and classifying the fluids contained in the totes, storage tanks and lagoon on the property; investigating water and waste disposal alternatives; reviewing the condition of and developing plans for closing the lagoon on the property. Those activities are being conducted in an orderly fashion with priority given to addressing DEQ Division of Waste Management concerns regarding totes with questionable contents which you can confirm with Brent Burch. Over 300 have been tested and removed from the site. A plan for dealing with the remaining fluids on the site is well underway and water treatment technologies and vendor proposals are pending. W. Corey Basinger, Regional Supervisor May 3, 2021 Page 2 Celadon is not operating the facilities at this time and it is our understanding that the wastewater irrigation system subject to the permit was never used. We note that the violations cited in the letter are for previous violations while Celadon operated the facility. While Linco cannot address prior reporting lapses, it can assure the DEQ that it is making every attempt to address remaining concerns on the property in an efficient and economic manner. Regarding the lagoon itself, laboratory testing of the water quality is scheduled to aid in decisions regarding not only lowering the water surface elevation to expose the liner area but to ultimately dewater the impoundment and regrade the site. Be assured that Linco, as property owner with significant investment in this real estate, will continue cooperating with DEQ and local officials as site plans develop and will keep the Division of Water Resources advised. Sincerely, ,,� Ron Buck cc: Bob Griffin P.E. Tom Witner William T. Gorton III Brent Burch Attachment B SHIELD ENGINEERING September 22, 2022 Via email Edward Watson Hydrogeologist Water Quality Regional Operations Section Division of Water Resources 610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301 Mooresville, North Carolina 28115 Subject: Report of Back Pit and Front Pit Closure Former Celadon Recycling Facility Linco Partnership Lincolnton, NC Shield Project No. 1210037 Dear Mr. Watson, On behalf of Linco Partnership (Linco), the property owner of the former Celadon Recycling Solutions operation, Shield Engineering (Shield) is presenting this report documenting the closure of two pits (Back Pit and Front Pit) formerly containing waste at the facility. Pit Locations and Descriptions Back Pit The Back Pit is located in a small outbuilding located east of the southern portion of the main building. The pit is made up of two chambers constructed of formed concrete that were once used by Celadon as a settling pit. Currently the pit only receives stormwater from building downspouts and drop inlets around the building. Stormwater is accumulated by the collection system and routed to a trunk line that enters the pit. There is no effluent piping from this pit. Front Pit The Front Pit is located near the facility office front door. It is uncovered and also constructed of formed concrete. We are informed that it occasionally received wastewater from customers tanker trucks and also waters originating inside the plant building. The Front Pit was once used as a waste settling pit. This pit has no effluent discharge piping. 4301 Taggart Creek Road www.sliieldeneineerine.com Telephone 704.394.6913 Charlotte, NC 28208 License No. F-0856 Report of Back Pit and Front Pit Closure Former Celadon Recycling Facility Linco Partnership Llncolnton, NC September 22, 2022 Page 2 Pit Materials Characterization Appropriate testing to characterize the waste in the pits for disposal was performed by Linco's contractors and by Shield. The waste in both pits was determined to be non -hazardous. Pit Closure Back Pit On June 14, 2021 Shield observed the closure activities performed by Hazmat Environmental Services (Hazmat). Hazmat used vacuum trucks to remove the solids and liquids from the pit. The materials removed were contained within the vac trucks. A high pressure/low volume water gun was used to break up large pieces of solids so that they could be extracted with the vacuum hoses. As the amount of material removed was close to complete, the work required the Hazmat personnel wearing personal protective equipment to enter the two pit chambers so that the high pressure water gun could be used at close range to thoroughly pressure wash the sides and bottom of the pit chambers as the remaining material was vacuumed out. Photographs providing further documentation of the material removal and Back Pit cleaning are provide in Attachment 1. The 3400 gallons of waste material from the Back Pit was transported to Hazmat's solidification facility in Charlotte, NC and was then disposed at the Republic Services Subtitle D landfill in Concord, NC. Front Pit From February 10 to February 23, 2022 Shield observed the Front Pit closure activities performed by Hepaco. Hepaco used vacuum boxes to remove the solids and liquids from the Front Pit in a similar manner to the Back Pit described above. After removing the waste, the bottom and sides of the Front Pit were cleaned with high pressure water. Linco plans to backfill the pit with soil following drilling drainage holes in the concrete bottom to allow drainage of rainwater that may seep through the backfilled soil. Photographs providing further documentation of the material removal and Front Pit cleaning are provide in Attachment 2. Approximately 233 tons of material were removed from the front pit. The material was disposed at the Waste Connections- Anson County, NC Subtitle D Landfill. SHIELD / ENGINEERING Report of Back Pit and Front Pit Closure Former Celadon Recycling Facility Linco Partnership Lincolnton, NC Conclusions September 22, 2022 Page 3 The waste material was thoroughly removed from both the Back Pit and the Front Pit using high vacuum suction into vacuum boxes exposing the bare concrete pit walls and floors. The pit walls and bottoms were then completely pressure washed. The removed material was properly disposed at permitted facilities. Based on the current facility use, the Back Pit does not receive wastewater. The Front Pit collects precipitation only. Please contact me 704-394-6913 if you have any questions. Sincerely, SHIELD ENGIkEE INC. Thomas W. Witner, P.G. Principal Attachments SHIELD / ENGINEERING ATTACHMENT 1 BACK PIT PHOTOS qW7 AM IA c Both chambers after waste removal and pressure washing. Bottom of northern chamber after cleaning. ATTACHMENT 2 FRONT PIT PHOTOS ��. T xj�:_aw �� __.!�. ._ _ ` __ __ -=-"z. cam- _-��a,_� ._ Vac boxes prior to use. Initial stage of waste removal using vacuum hoses, Continued Pit Vacuuming. Pit cleaning with high pressure water. ry,`� � < , �1�.... y,1 ��`` ., �,�`1 jj, i ,j , � . ,Pll_` �� ' _ _ .. _ - ,_- , _ .- _ _ r --- ��• _ =+ 3� _ - _. c,� 1 1� j{,, � �F�. � � '. � � -� � _ f� s f .� ' _ 4, _ �. �. (j, y� bi CDG 4301 Taggart Creek Road Charlotte, NC 28208 January 24, 2023 Tel (704) 394-6913 License No. C-4973 Via email cdge.com Edward Watson Hydrogeologist Water Quality Regional Operations Section Division of Water Resources 610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301 Mooresville, North Carolina 28115 Attachment C Subject: Work Plan for Back Pit, Front Pit and EQ Tank Closure Former Celadon Recycling Facility Linco Partnership Lincolnton, NC CDG Project No. R990129901 Dear Mr. Watson, On behalf of Linco Partnership (Linco), the property owner of the former Celadon Recycling Solutions operation, CDG, Inc. (formerly Shield Engineering, Inc.) is presenting this work plan for the Back Pit, Front Pit and the EQ Tank formerly containing waste at the facility. As the DEQ is aware, the waste water treatment system has been out of operation since Celadon abandoned the property. In an orderly fashion Linco has addressed various water -containing components of the former Celadon operation including open pits, processing equipment, and water storage facilities and mobile equipment. The purpose of this work plan is to provide documentation of procedures taken and to be taken regarding these components of the Wastewater Treatment System. We have previously provided documentation regarding several tasks taken in the closure process and refer to those reports for specific details including sampling protocols and disposal records. Previous Back Pit, Front Pit and EQ Tank Waste Removal Activities A report of the Back Pit and Front Pit closure dated September 22, 2022, was provided to Mr. Edward Watson with the Division of Water Resources (DWR). Below is a summary of the activities to date for the Back Pit, Front Pit and the EQ Ta n k. [1] (,'CDG 4301 Taggart Creek Road Charlotte, NC 28208 Tel (704) 394-6913 License No. C•4973 cdge.corn Back Pit The Back Pit is located in a small outbuilding located east of the southern portion of the main building. The pit is made up of two chambers constructed of formed concrete that were once used by Celadon as a settling pit. Underground piping runs from this pit to the EQ tank used to convey (via pumping) liquids from the pit to the EQtank. Currently the pit only receives stormwater from building downspouts and drop inlets around the building. Stormwater is accumulated by the collection system and routed to a trunk line that enters the pit. On June 14, 2021, Shield observed the closure activities performed by Hazmat Environmental Services (Hazmat). Hazmat used vacuum trucks to remove the solids and liquids from the pit and high-pressure water to remove waste material from its sides. The 3400 gallons of waste material from the Back Pit was transported to Hazmat's solidification facility in Charlotte, NC and was then disposed at the Republic Services Subtitle D landfill in Concord, N.C. Waste manifests were provided to the DWR. Front Pit The Front Pit is located near the facility office front door. It is uncovered and also constructed of formed concrete. We are informed that it occasionally received wastewater from customers' tanker trucks and also waters originating inside the plant building. The Front Pit was once used as a waste settling pit. We understand this pit has no effluent discharge piping. From February 10 to February 23, 2022, Shield observed the Front Pit closure activities performed by Hepaco. Hepaco used vacuum boxes to remove the solids and liquids from the Front Pit in a similar manner to the Back Pit described above. After removing the waste, the bottom and sides of the Front Pit were cleaned with high pressure water. Approximately 233 tons of material were removed from the front pit. The material was disposed of at the Waste Connections- Anson County, NC Subtitle D Landfill. Waste manifests were provided to the DWR. [2] C CDG 4301 Taggart Creek Road EQ Tank Charlotte, NC 28208 The EQ Tank is located near the former wastewater lagoon. It is constructed of Tel (704) 394-6913 stainless steel and is approximately 15 feet high and 63 feet in diameter with a License No. C•4973 nominal capacity of 350,000 gallons. The EQtank was part of the previous non- cdge.corn discharge wastewater system operated by an applesauce and fruit drink processing operation prior to Linco's ownership of the facility. We understand that during Celadon's occupation of the facility, the tank received rainwater and stored wastewater prior to discharge to the Lincolnton POTW. Between September 12, 2022, and October 19, 2022 the contents of the EQ Tank were pumped out by Shamrock Environmental. The waste was disposed at their wastewater facility in Brown's Summit NC. Waste manifests have been previously provided to Ed Watson with the DWR. According to the waste manifests, 348,425 gallons of waste were removed from the EQ tank. The piping from the bottom of the EQ tank to the recirculation pump in the nearby pump house is currently connected and the liquids will be collected as part of the recently awarded "tote disposal contract" with Hepaco. Miscellaneous Wastewater Treatment Plant Vessels Following sampling and analysis, on January 12, 2023, all liquids were removed from the Celadon wastewater treatment vessels in the tote rinse room and properly disposed by Hepaco. That equipment is the subject of on -going sales processes and will be removed. Proposed Closure Activities Presented below are the general procedures for taking the subject wastewater treatment plant components out of use. Back Pit The underground piping from the pit to the EQ tank should be emptied, if found to contain liquids, and properly plugged at the pit end. Any removed materials should be disposed at a permitted facility. As previously described, the pit has been cleaned. Moreover, the only influent the pit receives is rainwater from the roof drains and parking lot runoff. Since water entering the pit is no longer in contact with a component of the wastewater treatment system, it should not be considered wastewater. In order to manage the stormwater that enters the pit, a sump pump system will [31 (,'CDG 4301 Taggart Creek Road be configured to control the water accumulating in the pit. The pump should Charlotte, NC 28208 be connected to a discharge line that leads to the floodplain of Carpenter Creek Tel (704) 394-6913 to the southeast. Rip -rap or similar outfall protection should be placed at the License No. C-4973 discharge point. cdge.com Front Pit As previously described, the Front Pit has been cleaned. Accumulated rainwater should be removed from the pit to allow worker access and safe use of electrical tools. Or if a dry environment cannot be maintained, air powered tools should be used. Approximately sixteen 1 to 2 inch diameter holes will be drilled with a percussion drill or similar tool in order to penetrate the bottom concrete to provide drainage. The pit can then be backfilled with soil to present grade and then planted with grass or other landscaping vegetation. EQ Tank Linco is in negotiations for demolition and removal of the tank which will include the walls and bottom. The vendor will remove for recycling or proper disposal. Prior to demolition, any piping connected to the tank will be drained of remaining liquids and removed. Drainage of remaining water between the tank and pumphouse is presently under contract as noted above. Prior to demolition, in order to manage precipitation that falls inside the tank, the piping from the center drain of the tank will be disconnected at the recirculation pump and the pipe extended over the ground to the flood plain of Carpenter Creek to the southeast. Rock rip -rap or similar outfall protection should be placed at the outfall point. Miscellaneous Wastewater Treatment Vessels The vessels are planned for removal and is the subject of ongoing sales processes. Please contact me 704-394-6913 if you have any questions. Sincerely, CDG, Inc. Thomas W. Witner, P.G. Team Leader [41 Attachment D f r4/ 2 864902:1