20080868 Ver 2_DENR Response to Concerns_20090303

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NCDENR
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Office of the Controller
Beverly Eaves Perdue, Governor Rod Davis, Director Dee Freeman, Secretary
March 3, 2009
Frank L. Perry, Investigative Division
Office of the State Auditor
2 S Salisbury St.
Raleigh, NC 27699-0601
Re: Response to allegations concerning PCS Phosphate Mine, Aurora, NC (Beaufort County)
Dear Mr. Perry:
The following is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) response to the, January
26, 2009 letter and "Summary of Allegations" received from the State of North Carolina, Office of the
State Auditor. This response presents the original statement of allegation and the accompanying response.
The underlying allegation was, "Improper Health and environmental operations at PCS mine in Aurora,
NC. "
• Potential health and environmental impacts of the PCS mine in Beaufort County
One of DENR's goals is to "administer regulatory programs designed to protect air quality,
water quality, and the public's health." DENR has multiple responsibilities. The permitting
process, site inspections, site specific monitoring, ambient monitoring, and established oversight
within each division are designed to help ensure public health and environmental protection.
The proposed impacts for a project will determine the required actions or permits for the
Divisions within DENR, including the Division of Air Quality, Division of Coastal
Management, Division of Land Resources, Division of Waste Management, Division of Water
Quality, and the Division of Water Resources.
PCS Phosphate has permits from several Divisions within DENR.
1606 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1606 One
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Frank L. Perry
Page 2 of 6
March 3, 2009:
The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) has issued 401 Certifications, NPDES permits, and
several permits through the Aquifer Protection Section. The Aquifer Protection permits include:
1. High rate infiltration permit that processes domestic waste
2. Wastewater recycle permits (3) that process
A. contact cooling water and cooling tower blow down;
B. mining and material processing;
C. fertilizer production
3. Land Application of residuals permit that allows application of solids from mining and
material processing and domestic waste processing
4. Injection well permit allowing fresh water injections through multiple injection wells
to drive the contaminant plume away from the Pamlico River and towards recovery
wells to be treated and reclaimed or used in the plant.
5. Well Construction Permits
The Division of Land Resources (DLR) - Mining regulates mining activities for the state and
has issued a permit (07-01) to regulate the fill materials from the mining operation.
The Division of Waste Management (DWM) - Hazardous Waste Section has issued PCS
Phosphate an EPA ID number. PCS Phosphate has notified as a small generator but PCS
Phosphate is not required to have a Hazardous Waste permit because they are exempt under the
Hazardous Waste and mining rules.
The Division of Water Resources (DWR) - maintains a Capacity Use Area in a 15 county area
in the Central Coastal Plain in order to protect aquifers from the effects of over-pumping.
Permits are required for ground water users of more than 100,000 gallons per day. Annual
registration and reporting of withdrawals is required for surface and ground water users of more
than 10,000 gallons per day. DWR conducts quarterly ground water level monitoring in the area
of PCS Phosphate as part of its Statewide Ground Water Monitoring Network. Many of the
wells on the network are equipped with automatic water level recorders which take measurement
on an hourly basis. Yearly reports comment on areas of improvement and concern within
specific aquifers or ground water regions.
Compliance Units within the Divisions work to ensure compliance with the permitted activities
by conducting site inspections and responding to complaints.
We have conducted an in-depth review of these permitting data with respect to compliance. The
permits that have been issued to PCS Phosphate meet existing state rules to protect human health
and the environment. The Department will continue to ensure that these permits continue to be
complied with following our normal compliance and enforcement procedures.
• William H. Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at
Duke University warned against letting PCS expand their mining operation.
Frank L. Perry
Page 3 of 6
March 3, 2009:
Comments contained in the bullet below.
• Schlesinger stated that "Long after the wetlands are gone, the phosphate is depleted and the
profits have moved away to the stockholders of PCS Phosphate, our coastal ecosystems will be
impoverished"
Schlesinger's quote, made in a March 5, 2007 News & Observer article, refers to a concern
about the diminishing or disappearance of the commercial and/or recreational fishing and
hunting activities conducted within wetlands in the PCS Phosphate's proposed impact plan.
The 401/404 permits issued to PCS Phosphate require approximately 2:1 mitigation to impact
ratios. Therefore, PCS Phosphate has been restoring approximately twice the amount of
wetlands they have impacted. Yearly monitoring reports and subsequent site visits have shown
successful on-site and off-site mitigation projects.
• Questions have been raised about the water quality in this area, also they've alleged test results
are being falsified
Water Quality concerns in this area could include questions about chemicals and its impact on the
quality of the water, salt water intrusion, and/or subsidence. DENR's Division of Water Quality has
many avenues for ensuring that the water quality meets the required standards. Ambient monitoring
and permit monitoring both provide valuable data for protecting the water quality.
North Carolina's Division of Water Quality (DWQ) has an ambient monitoring, Basinwide
Planning Program which currently collects water quality data on a monthly basis. Extensive surveys
occur on a five year cycle for the 17 river basins in the state. You can find more information on
what the reports generated by this program include as well as the current planning schedule at
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/basinwide/basinwide wq planning htm
The Tar-Pamlico Basinwide plan can be accessed at
htty://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/basinwide/tarpam-wq manaeg ment plan htm
Section B of this site also shows the sampling location points within Beaufort and Hyde counties.
The Tar-Pamlico River Basin Ambient Monitoring Report: January 1, 2003 through December
27, 2007 can be accessed at
http://www.esb.enr.state.nc.us/documents/Tar-Pam2002-07AMSR-FinaIJulyI8th pdf
Frank L. Perry
Page-4 of 6
March 3, 2009:
North Carolina's Division of Water Resources (DWR) conducts hourly water level monitoring of
its Statewide Ground Water Monitoring Well Network and provides yearly monitoring reports.
Many of the wells are sampled periodically for chloride concentration. The 2008 monitoring
report can be accessed at
http://www.ncwater.orv,/Reports and Publications/GWMS Reports/Network Annual Reports/f 2007-
8 network ann report.pdf
and the well data can be accessed at the DWR website
www.ncwater.org
The various reports from DWR touch on the issues of ground water level changes, effects of
drought, salt water intrusion, and subsidence.
http://www.ncwater.org/Permits and Registration/Capacity Use/Central Coastal Plain/landsub.php
Several permits also require daily to monthly monitoring of the water quality on and near the PCS
Phosphate site. The NPDES Wastewater permit issued on February 7, 2005 and the permit
modification issued October 30, 2007 contain the current version of the wastewater effluent limits.
Part of the NPDES water quality sampling requirements for PCS Phosphate include downstream
sampling that must be reported each month for specific parameters e.g. turbidity, TSS,
phosphorus, etc) for some of the outfalls. This information is maintained in a database managed
by the Division of Water Quality. The division also assesses the information on a monthly basis
to ensure the facility is compliant with the terms of its permits.
The 401 Water Quality Certification also requires monitoring for water quality, hydrology and
aquatic life for many of the small streams in the NCPC tract. The new Certification expands this
monitoring to also include streams on the Bonnerton and South of 33 tracts. Annual reports are
required to be submitted to DWQ for federal and state agency review to determine if water quality
or aquatic life impacts are occurring. To date, those reports have not shown impacts from the
mining operation on these small streams on the NCPC tract. DWQ and our sister agencies will
continue to review these reports. If negative impacts do occur, then PCS will be required to
address these concerns in order to comply with their 401 Water Quality Certification.
Other permits granted by the Aquifer Protection Section and held by PCS Phosphate that set
various groundwater limits include:
1. High rate infiltration permit that processes domestic waste
2. Wastewater recycle permits (3) that process
A. contact cooling water and cooling tower blow down;
B. mining and material processing;
C. fertilizer production
3. Land Application of residuals permit that allows application of solids from mining and
material processing and domestic waste processing
Frank L. Perry
Page 5 of 6
March 3, 2009:
4. Injection well permit allowing fresh water injections through multiple injection wells to
drive the contaminant plume away from the Pamlico River and towards recovery wells to
be treated and reclaimed or used in the plant.
5. Well Construction Permits
"North Carolina's Division of Water Quality (NC DWQ) - Aquifer Protection Section requires
groundwater monitoring for some of their permits. PCS Phosphate and/or individual contractors
hired by PCS Phosphate are responsible for collecting and testing samples and submitting reports.
A map of these PCS Phosphate groundwater wells is attached.
NC DWQ-Surface Water Protection Section took toxicity samples at PCS's effluent in 1997, 1998,
1999 and 2001. A Toxicity sampling event is scheduled for 2009. Several years ago, monthly
monitoring was conducted for a year at each PCS outfall. Split samples were taken during
sampling inspections. The Surface Water Protection Section has also been monitoring three
different locations in the Pamlico River near the outfall canal twice monthly since 1999.
Parameters include DO, temperature, pH, salinity, conductivity, fecal coliform, turbidity,
chlorophyll a and nutrients.
It is uncertain, whom the allegation of falsification of records is referencing. DENR utilizes
several procedures to help ensure the quality of the water sample and subsequent data it receives.
These procedures include Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures, lab
certification requirements, compliance units, and sampling inspections to ensure accurate reporting
of data.
DENR utilizes several procedures to help ensure the quality of the water sample and subsequent
data it receives. These procedures include Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC)
procedures, lab certification requirements, compliance units, and sampling inspections to ensure
accurate reporting of data.
Any PCS lab or private lab used for water quality sampling or analysis must be a certified lab.
Labs certified in North Carolina are inspected by the Laboratory section of the Division of Water
Quality. The Division of Water Quality also has oversight rules in place to provide several levels
of oversight and maintain quality assurance and control.
In general, DENR and its Divisions follow the Clean Water Act's (CWA) self-monitoring
philosophy and use inspections and oversight to ensure a positive end result.
The complaint is not specific in identifying the nature or source of wrong-doing with respect to
records of water quality testing.
Virginia-Pilot Newspaper on November 3, 2008, wrote a story questioning whether EPA water
tests are trustworthy
o "Technically, EPA has no standard that pertains to well water"
The EPA does not currently have any standards that pertain to well water however, the
North Carolina Environmental Management Commission does have groundwater standards
Frank L. Perry
Page 6 of 6
March 3, 2009:
that are incorporated in permitting and compliance decisions as appropriate. The North
Carolina Groundwater standards may be accessed at
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/admin/rules/documents/WEBversioncomp2Lw-PFOAInterm_dec06.pdf
A broader search of North Carolinas Administrative Codes can be accessed at
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/admin/rules/codes statutes.htm
• EPA Report: "The metals detected in the groundwater [near the PCS mine at Aurora]
corresponded to those elements (arsenic, cadmium, and zinc) detected at high concentrations in
the [mine's] unlined waste ponds that over a decade ago, both the EPA and NC State officials
knew there was a growing water quality problem related to the mine.
DENR is not familiar with the referenced EPA report. The Division of Water Quality is
continuing to search for the referenced EPA report and any data related to the issue raised
with your office.
It is currently our understanding that the historic waste ponds are the clay ponds on the Charles Tract.
Sampling was conducted by DWQ monthly at these ponds for a year. PCS stopped discharging to the
ponds in the mid 1980's. The 2005 NPDES permit eliminated the monitoring requirements.
DENR's goal is to protect and maintain our environment for the health and well-being of everyone. The
Department's work through the coordination of efforts in its Divisions helps to provide greater protection
for one of our most important resources. Please feel free to contact John Dorney (919-733-9649), one of
my staff members, if you should have any questions or need any further assistance.
Sincerely,
Rod Davis
Cc: Robin W. Smith, Assistant Secretary
Coleen Sullins, Division of Water Quality
Jim Simons, Division of Land Resources
Tom Reeder, Division of Water Resources
Dexter Matthews, Division of Waste Management
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