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Home My WebLink AboutWQCS00013_NOV-2023-DV-0341_20230928C.A RY —LIVE INSPIRED — September 25, 2023 Ms. Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Supervisor Water Quality Regional Operations Section Raleigh Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ 1628 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1628 Subject: Notice of Violation (NOV-2023-DV-0341) Dear Ms. Manuel: Ne UoAro jl w/ or ;rer rral qua//tY Stu 8 R�S�lonc2; CERTIFIED MAIL On September 14, 2023 the Cary Utilities Department received a Notice of Violation (NOV) letter dated September 6, 2023 from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Resources — Raleigh Regional Office for a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) that occurred on August 16, 2023. The NOV letter identifies the August 16 SSO as an NOV and requests written response from Cary to provide additional information within 15 business days from receipt of the letter. Incident # Start Date Duration Location Cause Total Total Volume DWR (min) Volume Surface Water Action Gal Gal 202301183 8/16/2023 15 1724 White Oak Other 1,500 0 Notice of Church Rd, Apex, Violation 27523 Cary takes pride in the operation and management of our 1,000 miles of wastewater collection system. We are an award winning and progressive wastewater utility that has very few reportable or large volume SSO. We place emphasis on responding quickly to sewer emergencies to prevent and minimize any spills that impact our citizens, community, and environment. We appreciate the opportunity to provide information on the recent sewer overflow, our efforts, and justification for why additional enforcement action or civil penalty should not be assessed to Cary. INCIDENT # 202301183 —1724 White Oak Church Rd. Sewer Overflow Cause - On August 16, 2023 at 8:15 AM, Cary staff received a call from a contractor that was installing gravity sewer for a new development, saying that they hit an unmarked 6 inch ductile iron force main serving Cary's Weddington Wastewater Pump Station with an excavator. Cary staff immediately responded by stopping operations at the Weddington Pump Station to mitigate flow through the force main and responded to the area where the damage occurred to assess. Upon arrival, staff observed the discharged sewer 919.469.4000 1 carync.gov PO Box 8005 Cary, NC 27512 from the force main was fully contained in the contractors excavation pit. The contractor did not have an active 811 locate ticket called in for utilities to be marked prior to excavation. Sewer Spill Cleanup — Cleanup was performed by a Cary crew utilizing a vacuum truck. The crew vacuumed the sewer from the excavation pit and discharged back into Cary's sanitary sewer system. Sewer Spill Assessment — The 1500-gallon sewer spill from the force main was contained in the excavation pit. No fish kill or visible environmental impacts were identified following the spill and spill cleanup. Corrective Actions — After Cary's crew vacuumed all the sewer in the excavation pit, the contractor obtained repair parts the same day and made a complete and permanent repair to the force main. Cary personnel spoke with the contractor and expressed the requirement and importance of having an active 811 locate ticket for any excavation. We appreciate the opportunity in being able to provide information on this unfortunate sewer spill. We appreciate NC DEQ's consideration in evaluating this sewer spill, the cause, and Cary's record and response to remediate and help ensure that a SSO reoccurrence does not reoccur at this location. If we can answer any questions or provide any additional information, please feel free to contact Mr. Chad Lemke, Wastewater Collections System ORC at (919) 469-4571. Sincerely, 1 .4 amie Revels, P.E. Utilities Director Cc: Donald Smith, Wastewater Collection System Manager Paul Campbell, Wastewater Collection System Operator Chad Lemke, Wastewater Collection System ORC Attachments: NCDEQ Notice of Violation to issue Civil Penalty — NOV-2023-DV-0341 Collection System Sanitary Sewer Overflow 5-Day Report — Incident # 202301183 CARY DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E9BFOFA-94C0.4985-BDDB-OA824E5BED49 "VW 9�1�1�a�a3 ROY COOPER G,n wuv ELIZABETH S. BISER �a reign RICHARD E. ROGERS. JR. Darren Certified Mail # 7020 3160 0000 4115 0172 Return Receipt Requested Jamie Revels, Director Utilities Town of Cary PO Box 8005 Cary, NC 27512-8005 NOR, 4 CAROL INA Environmental Quality September 06, 2023 SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION Tracking Number: NOV-2023-DV-0341 Sanitary Sewer Overflows - August 2023 Collection System Permit No. WQCS00013 Cary Collection System Wake County Dear Permittee: The self -reported Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) 5-Day Report submitted by Town of Cary indicates violations of permit conditions stipulated in the subject permit and North Carolina G.S. 143-215.1. Violations include failing to effectively manage, maintain, and operate the subject collection system so that there is no SSO to the land or surface waters and making an outlet to waters of the State for purposes of G.S. 143-215.1(a)(1), for which a permit is required. Specific incident(s) cited in the subject report include the following Total Vol Total Surface Incident Start Duration Vol Water Number Date (Mins) Location Cause (Gals) (Gals) DWR Action 202301183 8/16/2023 15 1724 WHITE OAK Other 1,500 0 Notice of Violation CHURCH ROAD, APEX, ,27523 _ j�E Q3i01...,,, ., DocuSign Enelope ID: 2E98FOFA-94CO-4985-BDDB-OAB24E5BED49 Remedial actions, if not already implemented, should be taken to correct the above noncompliance. Please submit a written response to this Notice of Violation. Your response is to be received by the regional office within 15 business days following receipt of this violation. Please include any additional documentation about this incident(s) in the response. The submittal will be considered in determining whether the Division will assess a civil penalty for the cited violations. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin Fowler with the Water Quality Section in the Raleigh Regional Office at 919-791-4200 or via email at kevin.fowler@deq.nc.gov. Sincerely, Coao.slpm ev: vvmms& f. It1AKUd BnJBEble]7IWt Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Supervisor Water Quality Regional Operations Section Raleigh Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ Cc: Laserfische DWR State of North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Water Resources Collection System Sanitary Sewer Overflow Reporting Form Dlvlslon of Water Resources Form CS-SSO PART I: This form shall be submitted to the appropriate DWQ Regional Office within five business days of the first knowledge of the sanitary sewer overflow (SSO). Permit Number: WQCS00013 (WQCS# if active, otherwise use WQCSD#) Facility: Cary Collection System Incident #: 202301183 Owner: Town of Cary City: Cary County: Wake Region: Raleigh Source of SSO (check applicable): 0 Sanitary Sewer Pump Station / Lift Station SPECIFIC location of the SSO (be consistent in description from past reports or documentation - i.e. Pump Station 6, Manhole at Westall $ Bragg Street, etc): 1724 WHITE OAK CHURCH ROAD, APEX, , 27523 Manhole #: Latitude (Decimal Degrees): Longitude (Decimal Degrees): Incident Started Dt: 08116/2023 Time: 8:15 am Incident End Dt: 08/16/2023 Time: 08:30 am (mm-dd-yyyy) (hh:mm AM/PM) (mm-dd-yyyy) (hh:mm AM/PM) Estimated Volume of the SSO: 1,500 gallons Estimated Duration (Round to nearest hour): 0:15 hours Describe how the volume was determined: Volume accumulated in excavation pit Weather conditions during the SSO event: Sunny Did SSO reach surface waters? ❑ Yes [Z No Unknown Volume reaching surface waters (gals): 0 Surface water name: Did the SSO result in a fish kill? Yes 0No Unknown If Yes, what is the estimated number of fish killed? 0 SPECIFIC cause(s) of the SSO: Q Other (Please explai 24 hour verbal notification (name of person contacted ): Timothy Clark 0 DWR ❑ Emergency Mgmt Date (mm-dd-yyy): 08/16/2023 Time (hh:mm AM/PM): 03:00:00 pm If an SSO is ongoing, please notify the appropriate Regional Office on a daily basis until SSO can be stopped. Per G.S. 143-215.1 C(b), the responsible party of a discharge of 1,000 or more of untreated wastewater to surface waters shall issue a press release within 24-hours of first knowledge to all print and electronic news media providing general coverage in the county where the discharge occurred. When 15,000 gallons or more of untreated wastewater enters surface waters, a public notice shall be published within 10 days and proof of publication shall be provided to the Division within 30 days. Refer to the reference statute for further detail. The Director. Division of Water Resources, may take enforcement action for SSOs that are required to be reported to Division unless it is demonstrated that: 1) the discharge was cause by sever natural conditions and there were no feasible alternative to the discharge; or 2) the discharge was exceptional, unintentional, temporary and caused by factors beyond the reasonable control of the Permittee and/or owner, and the discharge could not have been prevented by the exercise of reasonable control. Part II must be completed to provide a justification claim for either of the above situations. This information will be the basis WHETHER OR NOT PART III IS COMPLETED, A SIGNATURE IS REQUIRED AT THE END OF THIS FORM CS-SSO Form Page I7c1:ir11 ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS FOR EACH RELATED CAUSE CHECKED IN PART I OF THIS FORM AND INCLUDE THE APPROPRIATE DOCUMENTATION AS REQUIRED OR DESIRED COMPLETE ONLY THOSE SECTONS PERTAINING TO THE CAUSE OF THE SSO AS CHECKED IN PART I (In the check boxes below, NA = Not Applicable and NE = Not Evaluated) A HARDCOPY OF THIS FORM SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE APPROPRIATE DWR REGIONAL OFFICE UNLESS IS Other (Please explain in Part II) Describe: Utility contractor working to install a new gravity sewer line in a new development struck an active 6inch ductile iron force main. Contractor did not obtain utility locates prior to digging. A portion of the force main contents leaked into excavation hole. All wastewater resided in the excavation. No discharge to waters of the stale. Were adequate equipment and resources available to fix the problem? 0 Yes ❑ No ❑ NA NE If Yes, explain: Contractor obtained repair parts the same day and made a complete and permanent repair to the force main. A vacuum truck was used to remove all wastewater and return it to the sewer system for disposal and treatment. Cary managed the wastewater pump station to prevent a discharge while repairs were made. If the problem could not be immediately repaired, what actions were taken to lessen the impact of the SSO? An immediate repair was made to the force main. Comments: The contractor was required to obtain utility locates prior to any additional digging was allowed. System Visitation ORC Yes Backup W Yes Name: Chad Lemke Cert# 1000563 Date visited: 8/16/2023 Time visited: 8:30 AM How was the SSO remediated (i.e. Stopped and cleaned up)? Cary assisted in vacuuming and removing the wastewater for disposal and treatment into the wastewater collections system. Cary managed the pump station to Prevent any additional wastewater discharge while repairs were being made. CS-SSO Form Page: 2 As a representative for the responsible party, I certify that the information contained in this report is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. Person submitting claim: Chad Lemke Date: O8/21/23 01:00 pm Signature: Telephone Number: q) i— 3 H— 4 S`7 1 Title: Gllav),--s SnAa AW Any addition information desired to be submitted should be sent to the appropriate Division Regional Office within five days of t knowledge of the SSO with reference to the incident number (the incident number is only generated when electronic entry of th form is completed, if used). CS-SSO Form Page: 3 Utilities Department Donald Smith PO BOX 8005 TOWN OF CARY CARY NC 27512-8005 NC Dept of Enviroamental {duality SEP 2 i Raleigh Regioll-<i '�fficc 1111111111111111111111111 US POSTAGE AND FEES PAID PRIORITY MAIL Sep 26 2023 Mailed from ZIP 27512 1 LB PRIORITY MAIL RATE ZONE 1 NO SURCHARGE 11923275 Commercial Plus Pricing NC DEQ Division of Water Resources Ms. Vanessa Manuel, Asst. Regional Supervisor 1628 MAIL SERVICE CTR - WATER QUALITY REGIONAL OPERATIONS SECTION RALEIGH NC 27699-1628 ��Il�ll�ul�llllh�lll°I��Iuh�1�Ip�111�gJl�h�u6l�dl�lll