WQCS00193_NOV-2024-DV-0012 Response_20240117

Michael Wagner
Public Utilities Director
[e-mail]
Public Utilities

Town of Fuquay-Varina 134 N. Main Street, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 [phone] fuquay-varina.org

January 17, 2024

Vanessa Manuel
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Raleigh Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
1628 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1628

RE: NOTICE OF VIOLATION NOV-2024-DV-0012
Sanitary Sewer Overflow-Incident #202301717
Collection System Permit No. WQCS00193
Town of Fuquay-Varina
Wake County

Dear Ms. Manuel,

The Town of Fuquay-Varina appreciates the opportunity to respond to the Notice
of Violation dated January 9, 2024, for a Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) incident #
202301717 that occurred on December 20, 2023, because of a break on the Middle Creek
Pump Station force main. It is our intent that this response will provide sufficient
additional information regarding the incident and justification that the Town should not
be assessed a civil penalty.

Cause of non-compliance:
On December 20, 2023, a customer called in an odor complaint and possible
water leak at 10016 Fayetteville Road. The ORC and Town staff quickly responded and
determined that a 10-inch PVC C-900 force main was leaking.

Remedial Action Taken:
The Town’s operation and maintenance crew responded immediately. While the
line was being excavated and prepared for repair, a pump and haul was performed at the
Middle Creek Pump Station to stop the leak. Once the crew had the pipe exposed, a 10-
inch repair band was used to repair the fractured pipe. Once the repair was complete, the
excavated area was backfilled, limed, seeded and strawed. The Middle Creek Pump
Station was also placed back into service the same day.

As demonstrated, Operation and Maintenance personnel were responsive and took
immediate action to respond to the customer’s call and initiated corrective action to
address the broken pipe. A cracked force main is not something that the utility could
have planned for or prevented from happening. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to
have pipe failures during the winter months when the soil temperatures are constantly
changing, causing thermal stresses in the ground. We believe this letter justifies our
commitment to maintaining the collection system and we hope that the Division
recognizes these efforts. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Division not take any
further enforcement action against the Town.

Sincerely,

Michael Wagner
Public Utilities Director

Cc: file
Jonathan Joyner, ORC