NC0003433_Correspondence_20240119

ROY COOPER
Governor
ELIZABETH S. BISER
Secretary
RICHARD E. ROGERS, JR.
Director
Ms. Jessica Bednarcik, Senior Vice President
Environmental, Health and Safety
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
Mail Code EC13K
P.O. Box 1006
Charlotte, North Carolina 28201-1006
Dear Ms. Bednarcik:
NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
January 24, 2024
Subject: Draft NPDES Permit
Permit NC0003433
Cape Fear Steam Electric
Power Plant
Chatham County
Facility Class I
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the draft Permit for your facility. Please review the draft very carefully
to ensure thorough understanding of the conditions and requirements it contains.
The draft Permit contains the following significant changes from your current permit:
1. The description of wastewater types discharged from Outfall 007 was updated to reflect the current
operational status.
2. The Internal Outfall 001 was removed from the permit because this outfall was eliminated.
3. The S-05 Outfall was removed from the permit based upon this former seep being dispositioned in
accordance with consent order EMC SOC WQ 19-001 and coverage in the Seep Corrective Action
Plan.
4. The Division is unable to eliminate Selenium limits for Outfall 007 since this Outfall has not discharged
since late 2018 and the RPA cannot be conducted.
5. The monitoring frequency for Arsenic, Selenium, and Mercury was reduced from weekly to monthly
based on the review of the effluent data and frequency of discharge.
6. The Division is unable to eliminate the WET testing requirements for Outfall 007 to be consisted with
the requirements of 15A NCAC 2B .0500.
7. The requirements associated with decanting and dewatering have been removed from Outfall 007
because decanting has been completed and dewatering discharge is routed through Outfall 008.
8. The Effluent page for Outfall 008 decanting was eliminated from the permit since this activity has been
completed and dewatering was initiated on 11 /11 /2019.
9. The limits for Selenium have been removed from the permit based on the results of the RPA (Outfall
008 dewatering).
10. The monitoring frequency for Arsenic, Selenium, and Mercury was reduced from weekly to monthly
based on the results of the RPA (Outfall 008 dewatering).
11. The monitoring requirements for Aluminum, Nickel, Lead, and Cadmium were eliminated from the
permit based on the results of the RPA (Outfall 008 dewatering).
12. The limits and monitoring requirements for Copper were eliminated from the permit based on the
results of the RPA (Outfall 008 dewatering).
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
NORTH CAROLINA
v 512 North Salisbury Street 11611 Mail Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1611
919.707.9000
Deportment of Emlmnmenbl 0.4l

13. The Division is unable to reduce frequency of the WET testing requirements for Outfall 008 until
dewatering is complete to be consistent with the Division's dewatering strategy.
14. The Division is unable to eliminate requirements associated with dewatering from Outfall 008 until
dewatering is completed.
15. The Division is unable to eliminate Selenium limits for Outfall 008 (dewatering and groundwater
remediation) since this phase of the operation has not been initiated and the RPA cannot be conducted.
16. The monitoring frequency for Arsenic, Selenium, Mercury, Aluminum, Nickel, Beryllium, Copper,
Lead, Silver, and Zinc was reduced from weekly to monthly based on the results of the RPA (Outfall
008 dewatering and groundwater remediation).
17. The monitoring frequency for instream monitoring was reduced from Monthly to Quarterly based on
the review of the instream data.
18. The monitoring frequency for fish tissue instream monitoring was reduced from Annually to once per
permit term based on the review of the fish tissue data.
The Division cannot grant the facility's request to remove 85% requirement to avoid violation of the CWA
anti -backsliding provision.
The Division cannot grant the facility's request to reduce WET frequency until the dewatering phase is
completed to ensure protection of the receiving stream.
Please provide any comments you have regarding the draft permit to this office by March 4, 2024. At
this time, the Division is also publishing a notice in the newspapers of general circulation in Chatham County,
inviting public comment on the draft permit. Following the 30-day comment period, we will review all
pertinent comments received and take appropriate action on the permit renewal.
The NPDES Standard Conditions (Parts II, III, and M are not included with this draft. They can be found
at the following link if you would like to review them in conjunction with this draft permit.
https: / /bit.ly/2BZ4xxx
If you have any questions about the NPDES permit process, please contact me at the following e-mail
address: sergei.chernikov&deq.nc.gov.gov, or telephone number: 919-707-3606.
Sincerely,
Sergei Chernikov, Ph.D.
Environmental Engineer III
Complex NPDES Permitting Unit
cc: NPDES Files
EPA Region IV (e-copy)
Raleigh Regional Office / Surface Water Protection (e-copy)
Raleigh Regional Office / Public Water Supply (e-copy)
Aquatic Toxicology Unit (e-copy)
TACU (e-copy)
D E Q�� North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
512 North Salisbury Street 1 1611 Mail Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1611
NORrH CAROLINA 919.707.9000
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