NC0024945_Response to Notice_20230606

From: Svoolt, Shannon
To: Bell, We
Subject: [External] FW: Irwin Event Summary
Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 5:22:10 PM
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Good afternoon Wes,
Per your request, and as a result of my courtesy call to inform you of a leak of digested sludge that
we had at Irwin Creek WWTP, I am summarizing the information that I shared with you earlier in this
email. Irwin is currently piloting a sludge screen press prior to the dewatering of their solids. The
screen press is located on the pavement alongside of our biosolids storage pad. The screen press
was fed by a temporary industrial grade hose that developed a leak shooting digested sludge
upwards into the air. A portion of the digested sludge landed on the pavement but some of it also
landed just off the pavement in the adjacent grass. The ORC estimated that approximately 7,789
gallons of digested sludge leaked from the hose and that roughly 3,122 gallons landed or made its
way off the pad and onto the grass alongside of the pavement. The leak lasted approximately an
hour before it was noticed by plant personnel. Immediately upon noticing the leak the operator
stopped the sludge feed. Charlotte Water field operations staff and a crew from CERT were brought
in to clean up the sludge. Sludge on the pavement was vacuumed up into vac trucks. Staff worked
to contain sludge that left the pavement to keep it from traveling offsite, reach stormwater outfalls
and/or reach the waters of the state. An excavator was used as needed to scrape up the top two to
four inches of soil and sludge to be loaded into dump trucks and taken to the landfill. No digested
sludge left the property, made it to stormwater outfalls. or to the waters of the state. Everything
was contained on site, removed, and taken to the landfill. The event was recorded in the plant
logbook on site. If you have any questions concerning this event, please feel free to let me know.
Thank you.
Shannon Sypolt
Water Quality Program Administrator
Environmental Management
CHAIRI—OTTE W TER
4222 Westmont Drive / Charlotte, NC 28217
P: 704-336-4581 / C: 704-634-6984 / charlottewater.org