NC0035149_Modification Request_20230712

d;0, Carolina Water Service
� of North CarolinaT"
July 12, 2023
John Hennessy
Supervisor
NPDES Compliance and Expedited Permitting
NCDEQ
Re: Permit Modification Request
Seven Devils Resort - NCO035149
Watauga County
Mr. John Hennessy,
This letter addresses our concern with a permit requirement within NPDES permit NCO035149 (Seven Devils
Resort). Carolina Water Service Inc. of North Carolina (CWSNC) has entered into an agreement to perform
contract operations at Seven Devils resort wastewater plant beginning December 2021, as we proceed in
acquiring the system from the current owner.
While performing contract operations at the wastewater system, a NPDES Permit renewal application was
submitted on March 18, 2022, by the owner. A draft permit was then issued by Siying Chen on October 18,
2022, to the current owner Water Resources Management, Inc., which as you know, started the 30-day review
and comment period. Unfortunately, we were unaware of the draft permit and ultimately missed the window to
comment.
The specific requirements that are of concern to CWSNC is regarding the instream monitoring. The location of
the outfall is approximately 500ft from the treatment plant, but the terrain is quite difficult and dangerous. Once
our operations staff was made aware of the new sampling location, they contacted the regional office to explain
the situation. It was then that Ms. Tricia Lowery requested a site visit that occurred on March 9, 2023.
Ms. Lowery and CWSNC staff toured the area of concern and explained the difficulties that come with
sampling instream at this location. She recognized the problem and stated she is not involved in reviewing and
issuing permits but that they are consulted by the permitting division. She then instructed our operations team to
notate on the DMRs the reason for the missing data, until a solution could be resolved.
On Thursday, June 29, 2023, Ms. Lowery contacted our lead operator instructing CWSNC to contact you to
initiate a permit modification. In addition, she stated to use her assessment in our request, which I have
attached, to support our reasoning.
• 5821 Fairview Rd., Suite 401 • Charlotte, North Carolina 28209 • 800-525-7990

Therefore, CWSNC is requesting a permit modification to NPDES NCO035149 in order to remove the instream
sampling requirements due to the following conditions that are listed below.
The outfall piping sits approximately 15ft above the receiving stream where it cascades down a few
boulders and rocks before entering the stream (see "Image A"). The permit states the upstream sample
shall be collected approximately 50 feet upstream of the discharge. As you can see in the picture below,
immediately upstream is a caged culvert that is not accessible by our operations team. If it was
accessible, this is a clear example of a confined space that would put our team members at risk from a
safety perspective.
• Proceeding further upstream is also not plausible due to where this tributary originates. In Image B, you
can see that there is a pond, used for recreation, that discharges through an open channel where it drops
significantly in elevation underground where it reappears from the caged culvert. This pond is
approximately 300 feet (as the crow flies) from the discharge point.
Image A

Image B
The downstream location, as stated in the permit, also presents challenges in accessibility. The terrain is
not suited to be walked upon due to its severe slope. Over time, the tributary has degraded much of the
bank where trees have fallen and a significant drop in the ground occurs. The picture below (Image Q
shows the approximate location of 100 feet downstream where the instream sample is required. Once
again, CWSNC believes there is a significant safety risk to anyone that attempts to access that stream in
this particular area.

Image C
During our on -site visit, Ms. Lowery mentioned the potential partnership with the local Riverkeeper
association to see if they could perform the sampling. We have partnered with other riverkeeper
association or environmental groups to fulfil these requirements at other facilities, so we were not
opposed to this idea. We contacted Mr. Andy Hill, Regional Director of the Watauga Riverkeeper
regarding our situation. After presenting our problems and sharing the difficulty of obtaining samples,
he acknowledged the problem as well. Unfortunately, they were unable to fulfill this role. In addition,
even if they were able to, the issue from the second bullet point above would still be present of where to
exactly sample.

Although the pictures cannot accurately portray the steep terrain, we believe Ms. Lowery can attest to what we
provided in this letter. We greatly appreciate Ms. Tricia Lowery for her assistance and patience with us during
this matter. With her supporting documentation and the safety concerns listed above, we hope that you can see
our reasoning for filing a permit modification.
Sincerely,
Brent Milliron
Regulatory Compliance Manager
cc: Tricia Lowery, Environmental Specialist II, NCDEQ
Gary Peacock, Director of Operations, CWSNC
Neil Reece, Area Manager, CWSNC
Travis Thomas, Lead Operator, CWSNC
enclosures.

Figure 1: Photo of Outfall location. "BLUE ARROW = outfall pipe from WWTP. Red thin arrow is flow from WWTP. Upstream — left/
Downstream - right
Seven Devils WWTP Outfall

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On March 91h, 2023, Tricia Lowery with the Division of Water Resources (WSRO) visited the outfall of Seven Devils WWTP (NC0035149).
Personnel are having issues gaining access to upstream and downstream locations. Permit requires facility to take temperature of two locations:
1) 50ft upstream and 2) 100ft downstream of outfall.
Observations of site visit:
• 50Ft upstream:
Figure 1 illustrates the location of outfall pipe and surrounding area. Left of the outfall is a gate that enters underground (confined space -the
lake is at a higher elevation than the stream). Personnel would have to enter the confined space to obtain temperature reading.
Figure 2 illustrates the aerial view with indication lines detailing the upstream area underground.
• 100ft Downstream:
In figure 1, downstream is to the right of outfall. Downstream topography is a very steep "V" shaped (-100 ft depth). There are no switchbacks
or safe trails descending to stream. Due to the steep landscape, no stream banks exist. Very rocky area along stream with significant grade
control instream.
Figure 1 illustrates the aerial view with indication lines detailing the downstream area.
"The thin red arrow in Figure 1 illustrates effluent flow from WWTP. The flow velocity of WWTP's outfall is significantly lower in comparison to
natural flow of stream. "Permitted Effluent Limitation on flow = 0.120 MGD
Seven Devils WWTP Outfall

7/12/23, 10:44 AM
Attachment 2
Google Maps Aerial View of WWTP to
Discharge Point
GO gle Maps Seven Devils WWTP to Outfall
Imagery ©2023 Google, Imagery ©2023 Airbus, CNES / Airbus, Maxar Technologies, Map data ©2023 100 ft
Measure distance
Total distance: 525.36 ft (160.13 m)
https://www.goog le.com/maps/@36.1601988,-81.7893015, 348m/data=!3m 1 ! 1 e3?entry=ttu 1 /1