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Home My WebLink AboutNC0084620_More Information (Requested)_20231129 E,,,STATE aF� ROY COOPER Governor ELIZABETH S.BISER Secretary *�Af QUAM W RICHAM E.ROGERS,JR. NORTH CAROLINA Director Environmental Quality November 29,2023 CERTIFIED MAIL 7019 1120 00014877 6055 RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Mr. Rick Singleton,Director Operations Sibelco North America P.O. Box 588 Spruce Pine,NC 28777-0588 Subject: Request for Additional Information NPDES Permits NC0000175,NC0000361 NC0084620,NCO085839 Quartz, Schoolhouse Quartz, Crystal, & Red Hill Facilities Mitchell&Avery County Dear Mr. Myers: The Division of Water Resources (DWR)has reviewed the applications,received on July 30,2015, for renewal of the subject NPDES permits. The October 17,2018, draft permits received comments and requests for a public hearing. A public hearing was held on May 2,2019. In response to public comments, the hearing officer's recommendations, and to enable us to complete our review in accordance with N.C.G.S. 143-215.1 and 15A NCAC 02H .0105,DWR needs additional or revised information to address the following: 1. Please be sure to carefully follow instructions provided in the forms and provide answers to all questions for each subject permit:NC0000175,NC0000361,NC0084620, and NC0085839. 2. Updated Application Form. Please complete the EPA Form 1 and 2C including analyses for the compounds in Tables A through C of Form 2C (EPA Form 3015-2C). Section 5.4 of Form 2C will be requires reporting of production data in tons of ore processed. These forms can be downloaded at the following webpage: htips:Hdeq.nc.izov/about/divisions/water-resources/water- guality_permitting/npdes-wastewater/npdes-permitting=process. 3. Water Process Flow Diagr, am. Please provide an updated water process flow diagram to include source water information and chemical usage such as Hydrofluoric acid(HF)(Also see Form 2C —Instructions Section 2). 4. Total Hardness Data. Provide five(5)days of Total Hardness (CaCO3 or(Ca+Mg))data for the effluent and the upstream sampling location for each permit. 5. PEAS Questionnaire. Please complete and return the attached PFAS questionnaire(Attachment 1). 6. Outfall/Sampling Location Information. Please provide the coordinates in decimal degrees (e.g., 35.9327°N, -82.1026'W)for all wastewater Outfalls, instream sampling locations, and stormwater D E Q�� North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources 512 North Salisbury Street 1 1617 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1617 NORTH t of E, o 919.707.9000 U¢paNmpn�of EnvlrpnnMp�el UuLI� outfalls associated with each subject facility(Also see Form 2C—Instructions Section 1). Please include an updated outfall map with this information. 7. Non-point Source Data. Please provide the maximum flow(cfs) for the previous 5 years for all stormwater outfalls under operation of Sibelco North America that discharge to the North Toe River or its tributaries. Please reference this information with stormwater permit numbers, facility names, and stormwater outfall locations from item 6. 8. Laboratory Reports. Please provide the last three years of laboratory reports for effluent, upstream, and downstream sampling locations for TSS, Total Fluoride, and Total Chloride. Please provide any summaries in an excel format. 9. Feed/production information. In accordance with calculating production-based limitations found in 40 CFR 122.45(b). Please provide the following feed/production information for the highest month in the past twelve(12)months or the monthly average of the highest month of the previous five years. Please indicate how you choose to provide this information. Additionally,please indicate the number of days worked by the particular plant during the months used as a basis for the information provided: a. Total raw tonnage(tons/month)to all processes on site. b. Feed tonnage (tons/month)to all processes which utilize fluorides. c. Feed tonnage (tons/month)to feldspar recovery processes which utilize fluorides. i. Amount of hydrofluoric acid(gallons/month)used in this process. ii. Percentage(%)of HF acid in solution used. iii. Amount of finished material(tons/month)produced by this process. d. Feed tonnage (tons/month)to high purity Quartz recovery process which utilize fluorides. i. Amount of hydrofluoric acid(gallons/month)used in this process. ii. Percentage(%)of HF acid in solution used. iii. Amount of finished material(tons/month)produced by this process. e. Feed tonnage to any other recovery process on site which utilize fluorides. i. Amount of hydrofluoric acid(gallons/month)used in this process. ii. Percentage(%)of HF acid in solution used. iii. Amount of finished material(tons/month)produced by this process. f. Please include discussion of any significant changes in capacity or operation during the last five years, or any planned for the next permit cycle. g. Please include discussion of any variation in HF acid usage/dosage. h. Please provide information for all chemical usage(gallons/month or tons/month)in the process (also see Item 3). For chemical usage such as HF,please provide the chemical manufacture's assay which would include any trace impurities such as metals and organics. Please submit the additional information requested by one of the following: Electronically: derek.denard@deq.nc.gov Address For LISPS: Physical Address for parcel packages: Attention: Derek Denard Attention: Wren Tredford Division of Water Resources Division of Water Resources WQ Permitting Section—NPDES WQ Permitting Section—NPDES 1617 Mail Service Center 512 N. Salisbury Street Raleigh,NC 27699-1617 (9th Floor-Archdale Bldg) Raleigh,NC 27604 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources D E Q 512 North Salisbury Street 1 1611 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1611 NORTH CAROLINA 919.707.9000 Depa"mem of Environmental Duality Per 15A NCAC 2H.0107(b), if no response is received within 60 calendar days,the application will be returned to the applicant. If you have questions concerning the additional information requested,please contact me at 919-707-3618, or via e-mail at derek.denard@deq.nc.gov. Sincerely, Derek C. Denard,Environmental Program Consultant NPDES Industrial Permitting Unit Division of Water Resources,NCDEQ Attachments:PFAS Questionnaire cc: NPDES Files [Laserfiche] Sibelco North America/Rick Singleton[Rick.Singleton@sibelco.com] Jeff Ferguson Uef£ferguson@sibelco.com];Daniel Garland[Daniel.garland@sibelco.com] Jody McKinney Uody.mckinney@sibelco.com];Dennis W.Johnson[dennis.johnson@sibelco.com] DWR ARO/Daniel Boss [daniel.boss.deq.nc.gov];Rachel Rose[rachel.rose@deq.nc.gov] DWR/Doug Dowden[doug.dowden@deq.nc.gov];Amir Adaryani[amir.adaryani@deq.nc.gov] North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources D E Q 512 North Salisbury Street 1 1611 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1611 NORTH CAROLINA 919.707.9000 Depa"mem of Envlmnmeetal Duality ATTACHMENT 1 FLUORINATED CHEMICALS (e.g., PFAS) QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Do you use any material or products (directly or indirectly) in your operations that contain fluorinated chemicals? If so, please identify what materials or products contain fluorinated chemicals. • Please also address if you have any historical conditions and/or information for past practices at the site related to fluorinated chemicals? 2. Will your facility formulate or create products (directly or indirectly) which contain fluorinated chemicals? If so, please identify the specific fluorinated chemicals that may be formulated or created. 3. Will your facility produce solid waste,liquid waste,wastewater effluent, or other waste containing fluorinated chemicals?Please be as specific as possible to describe what fluorinated chemicals may result in the facility's wastewater, solid waste, or sludge. 4. Are there processes or operations that use equipment, material, or components that contain PFAS chemicals (e.g., surface coating, clean room applications, solvents, lubricants, fittings, tubing, processing tools, packaging, facility infrastructure)? Could these activities result in fluorinated chemicals being discharged as products, or by-products (i.e., through leaching, chemical process, heat treatment,pressurization, etc.)? 5. List CAS numbers of all known or believed present fluorinated compounds from the questions above. Please provide descriptions, quantities, and whether there are any unknowns related to the above questions. 6. Are there other facilities or operations in the U.S. or internationally that are identical to or may use processes similar to the facility in North Carolina? If so, please provide facility identification information and wastewater characterization including all PFAS compounds? 7. Additionally, have any PFAS analytical results been collected with any analytical test method similar to the following EPA Test Methods. Are any of the fluorinated compounds listed in one of the following methods and can you provide us with data resulting from these test • Methods 533 &537.1 (drinking water) • SW-846: Method 8327 (water) • Draft Method 1633 (water, solids,tissue) • "Total PFAS"Draft Method 1621 (wastewater) North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources D E Q 512 North Salisbury Street 1 1611 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1611 NORTH CAROLINA 919.707.9000 Depa"mem of Environmental Duality