WQCS00206_Response to Compliance Inspection_20231017

Town of Spring Hope, NC
118 W Railroad St; PO Box 87; Spring Hope, NC 27882 www.springhope.net
17 October 2023

NCDEQ Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Division of Water Resources Raleigh Regional Office
3800 Barrett Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27609
[transmitted electronically]
Attn: Ms. Vanessa Manuel, Assistant Regional Supervisor

RE: Compliance Evaluation Inspection WWCS Permit WQCS00206

Dear Ms. Manuel:
The Town is in receipt of the inspection report dated 2 October 2023. Regarding the items
identified in the accompanying correspondence, the Town of Spring Hope offers the
following responses:
• Item 2 :(Fats, Oils, and Grease Program) – The Town of Spring Hope has both a utility
ordinance, attached, and a FOG grease trap inspection program, but I was unaware
that with the small staff we were not completing annual inspections at non-
residential sites and will reinitiate that procedure with a 30 day notification to
property owners. Target date is 4 December 2023.
• Item 4 Contingency Plan for Pump Failure – The attached contingency plan developed
with assistance from North Carolina Rural Water Association (NCRWA) will be
located at all 6 lift station locations.
• Item 9 Pump Station High Water Alarms – The alerts at NC581 N; Ryans Ct, and
Montgomery St all functioned at inspection. However, the inspector commented that
the audible alarm was not sufficiently loud. The audible alert is not adjustable. We
will explore replacement audible alarms. It’s important to note that the high water
alerts all have associated Omni Beacons that call out to the on-call person as well as
the Public Works Director.
• Item 11 Designated Operators – The Town of Spring Hope filed ORC designations both
on August 2022 and as recently as September 2023. The State system was not
updated accordingly, attached is confirmation from the database of system update.
• Item 12 Cleaning Sewer Lines – Sewer line cleaning was completed post inspection
from pre-inspection 2,200 linear feet to 5,360 linear feet. This slightly exceeds the
10% annual system requirement.
• Items 13 Spill Response Action Plan – The Town of Spring with assistance from
NCRWA completed an official Spill Response Action Plan that combines all the
Town of Spring Hope, NC
118 W Railroad St; PO Box 87; Spring Hope, NC 27882 www.springhope.net
required elements. The plan is located at the DPW Truck Shed and all
staff members will be instructed to consult the plan for information in case of a spill.
• Item 14 SSO Records – On 5 July 2022 the Town of Spring Hope assumed the
operation and maintenance of the collection and treatment systems from a third party
operator that controlled record keeping for the eleven previous years. No SSO
records were provided when the Town asked for monthly reports, NOVs, or other
historical documents. Going forward the Town of Spring Hope understands that we
are to maintain records of SSOs.
• Item 15 Comprehensive Sewer Map – At the time of inspection, the field inspector
stated that pipe material, pipe age, and number of active taps are often missing from
older system’s maps. Those details are generally mapped as system improvements
are made and details are identified as a result of repairs and replacement. While the
Town possesses a digital map from the Wooten Company (attached), the Town of
Spring Hope is working with NCRWA to digitize and self-administer a digital map that
will fill in these blanks.

Please feel free to contact this office or Bobby Ball, the Public Works Director, with any
questions. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the evaluation and look forward to
a continued positive working relationship with DEQ Water Quality.

Sincerely,

Andrew DeIonno, Town Manager

CC: Board; Bobby Ball, Director Public Works; Michele Collins, Town Clerk