WQCS00081_Remission Request (DV-2024-0034)_20240408

RECEIVED
JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST AP{
Case Number: DV-2024-0034 cN@DEQMWR/NPDES
Assessed Party: City of Mebane
Permit No.: WQCS00081 Amount Assessed: $893.98
Please use this form when requesting remission of this civil penalty. You must also complete the "Request For Remission,
Waiver of Right to an Administrative Hearing, and Stipulation of Facts" form to request remission of this civil penalty.
You should attach any documents that you believe support your request and are necessary for the Director to consider in
evaluating your request for remission. Please be aware that a request for remission is limited to consideration of the five
factors listed below as they may relate to the reasonableness of the amount of the civil penalty assessed. Requesting
remission is not the proper procedure for contesting whether the violation(s) occurred or the accuracy of any of the factual
statements contained in the civil penalty assessment document. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143B-282.1(c), remission of a civil
penalty may be granted only when one or more of the following five factors apply. Please check each factor that you
believe applies to your case and provide a detailed explanation, including copies of supporting documents, as to why the
factor applies (attach additional pages as needed).
(a) one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors in N.C.G.S. 143B-282.1(b) were wrongfully applied to the
detriment of the petitioner (the assessment factors are listed in the civil penalty assessment document);
(b) the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation (i.e., explain the
steps that you took to correct the violation and prevent future occurrences);
(c) the violation was inadvertent 'or a result of an accident (i.e., explain why the violation was unavoidable or
something you could not prevent or prepare for);
V (d) the violator had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations;
(e) payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary remedial actions (i.e., explain
how payment of the civil penalty will prevent you from performing the activities necessary to achieve
compliance).
EXPLANATION:
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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
COUNTY OF ALAMANCE
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST
City of Mebane
Mebane Collection System
PERMIT NO. WQCS00081
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND
STIPULATION OF FACTS
CASE NO. DV-2024-0034
Having been assessed civil penalties totaling $893.98 for violation(s) as set forth in the assessment document of the Division
of Water Resources dated March 06, 2024, the undersigned, desiring to seek remission of the civil penalty, does hereby
waive the right to an administrative hearing in the above -stated matter and does stipulate that the facts are as alleged in the
assessment document. The undersigned further understands that all evidence presented in support of remission of this civil
penalty must be submitted to the Director of the Division of Water Resources within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice
of assessment. No new evidence in support of a remission request will be allowed after (30) days from the receipt of the
notice of assessment.
This the 2Ab day of Ape& , 20�
SIGNATURE
ADDRESS
/ v •.
TELEPHONE

ATTACHMENT A
City of Mebane
CASE NUMBER: DV-2024-0034
PERMIT NO: WQCS00081 REGION: Winston-Salem
FACILITY: Mebane Collection System COUNTY: Alamance
Other Violations
INCIDENT VIOLATION TOTAL VOLUME PENALTY
NUMBER DATE VIOLATION TYPE VIOLATION DESCRIPTION (GALLONS) AMOUNT
202301623 12/11/2023 CSO/SSO(Sewer Overflow) Discharge without valid permit 17,400 $750.00

Ae6alte
Positively Charming
April 1, 2024
PERCS Branch
Division of Water Resources
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
Subject: Response to Notice of Violation and Assessment of Civil Penalty
DV-2024-DV-0034
Dear PERCS Branch:
This letter is in response to the Notice of Violation and assessment of civil penalty dated March 8, 2024, that the
City of Mebane received on March 11, 2024, in regard to sewer overflow case number DV-2024-0034.
The sanitary sewer overflow that occurred on the morning of December 11, 2023 was accidental. The cause of
the overflow was due to an exercising generator surging back into the panel when switching back over to utility
power that blew a fuse in the low voltage transformer dropping one leg of the three-phase power. The loss of one
phase eliminated all pump controls and caused a communication fail alarm through SCADA.
The City was onsite within 33 minutes responding to the communication fail alarm. At the time of arrival, the pump
station wet well was nearing capacity, and it was noted that the control panel was out of service. The City
immediately mobilized the bypass pump to the site and contacted an electrician to diagnose the problem with the
control panel. The electrician found the blown fuse within the low voltage transformer and replaced it putting the
station back online within one hour. The City had replacement fuses in stock for this scenario but unfortunately
the overflow was already occurring by the time the repair had been made.
Since this incident, it has come to our attention that these particular fuses are hard to get and diagnose with the
naked eye. We have discussed with our contractors and engineers alternatives to the fuses that can be easily
diagnosed and are readily available. The City has taken an inventory of all of our existing pump station that have
this same fuse configuration. This inventory reveled that we have 70 of these fuse configurations in 16 of our
pump stations. An alternative to these fuses is a breaker with a visual indicator of a trip that can be easily
diagnosed. We have already replaced the fuses at the Fieldstone Pump Station with breakers where this incident
occurred and are working with a contractor to replace the remaining fuses within the next few weeks.
The City hopes you find this response as an acceptable justification for remission by the City promptly abating
continuing environmental damage, this incident being an accident, and that the city had not been assessed civil
penalties for previous violations. Attached is the invoice for the fuse to breaker change out at the Fieldstone Pump
Station.
Sincerely,
Kyle Smith, P.E.
Public Utilities Director
Cc — Lon T. Snider, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Winston-Salem Regional Office

CONTRACTOR'S APPLICATION for PAYMENT PAGE 1 OF 2 PAGES
CAP702 SUMMARY PAGE
TO:
CITY OF MEBANE
APPLICATION NO: 1
106 E. WASHINGTON ST.
APPLICATION DATE: 4/01/2024
MEBANE, NC 27302
PERIOD TO: 4/01/2024
CONTRACT DATE: 4/01/2024
FROM:
ARCHITECT PROJECT#:
KING ELECTRIC CO., INC
P.O. BOX 197
Distribution to:
BURLINGTON, NC 27215
PROJECT:
VIA ARCHITECT:
191827
191827
CHANGE FUSES TO BREAKERS
CHANGE FUSES TO BREAKERS
1. Original Contract Sum
CONTRACT FOR:
GREG
376.00
----------- - -- ---
2. Change Order Summary ADDITIONS DEDUCTIONS
Total changes approved in
previous months by Owner
0.00 0.00
Total approved this Month
0.00 0.00
TOTALS
0.00 0.00
Net Change by Change Orders
0.00
3. CONTRACT SUM TO DATE (Line 1+ - 2)
376.00
4. TOTAL COMPLETED & STORED TO DATE (Column G on CAP703)
376.00
5. RETAINAGE: a. 0.00 % of Completed Work 0.00
(Columns D + E on CAP703)
b. 0.00 % of Stored Material 0.00
(Column F on CAP703)
Total Retainage (Line 5a + 5b or Total in Column I of CAP703)
6. TOTAL EARNED LESS RETAINAGE (Line 4 less Line 5 Total)
7. LESS PREVIOUS CERTIFICATES FOR PAYMENT (Line 6 from prior Certificate)
8. CURRENT PAYMENT DUE
9. BALANCE TO FINISH, INCLUDING RETAINAGE (Line 3 less Line 6)
Architect's Certification: Amount Certified:
Architect:
Contractor Certification:
Signature:
Date: 4/01/2024 State of: NC County of:
Form by: PEM Software Systems, Ltd. 1-800-803-1315
Date:
Subscribed and sworn to before
me this day of
Notary Public:
My Commission expires:_/_/
,1 1 1;
376.00
0.00
376.00
0.00

CAP703 DETAIL PAGE(S)
TO:
CITY OF MEBANE
106 E. WASHINGTON ST.
MEBANE, NC 27302
A B
ITEM
ITE DESCRIPTION OF WORK
1 I CONTRACT AMOUNT
2 APPLICATION FOR PAYMENT
FROM:
KING ELECTRIC CO., INC
P.O. BOX 197
808 CHAPEL HILL RD.
BURLINGTON, NC 27215
C D E
WORK COMPLETED
SCHEDULED FROM PREVIOUS
VALUE APPLICATION THIS PERIOD
(D + E)
376.00 0.00 0.0C
0.00 0.00 376.0C
PAGE 2 OF 2 PAGES
PROJECT APPLICATION#:
APPLICATION DATE: 4/01/2024
191827 PERIOD TO: 4/01/2024
CONTRACT DATE: 4/01/2024
ARCHITECTS PROJECT#:
F - G---
MATERIALS TOTAL BALANCE RETAINAGE
PRESENTLY COMPLETED %
O
STORED AND STORED (G / C) FINISH (IF VARIABLE
(NOT IN TO DATE (C _ G) RATE)
D OR E) (D+E+F)
0.00 0 376.00 0.00
0.001 376.00 0 376.00-, -- 0.00
1 376.001 0.001 376.001 0.001 376.00 ( 100 1 0.001 0.00
Form by: PEM Software Systems, Ltd. 1-800-803-1315

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