WQ0000485_Response to Notice_20240507

N&-CC07_'�10
Town of Columbia
"A Heart's Delight" founded in 1793
103 Main Street • P.O. Box 361
April 30, 2024 Columbla, NC 27925
252.796.2781(P) • 252.796.0082 (F)
Mr. Robert Tankard, Assistant Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Washington Regional Office, NCDEQ
943 Washington Square Mall
Washington, NC 27889
Mr. Tankard:
RECEIVED/NCDENR/DWR
MAY - 7 2024
Water quality
Regional Operations Section
Washington Regional Office
This correspondence is in reply to your letter and notice of violation resulting from the December 2023
Discharge Monitoring Report for the Columbia Water Treatment Plant.
As indicated in previous replies to your agency, we have not been able to determine the source of Coper
which exceeded the limit values on December 7' and 311. Please note that Zinc was also an issue in
earlier tests but did not show up in the December report. As explained earlier we have continued in-
house sampling for zinc and copper to see if we can identify any actions that should be taken.
We continue to be in contact with Tyndall Lewis of Mc David Associates concerning a long-term solution
to waste water issues. This includes plans to re -direct water from the Water Treatment Plant backwash
to the central sewer system. This has been discussed in planning and allocating funds from the American
Rescue Plan (ARP) that were recently allocated to Columbia for water and wastewater projects.
Meanwhile we will continue to search for the source of excess copper in our system.
We would welcome technical assistance and suggestions from the Washington Regional Office. Until
then we respectfully request that you waive any civil penalty while we continue work to correct this
violation.
Yours sincerely,
1
Rhett B. White, Manager
Cc/Robbie Bullock