WQ0000485_NOV Response_20180718

July 18, 2018
VALLEY PROTEINS, INC.
Morella Sanchez King, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
NCDEQ — Division of Water Resources
127 Cardinal Drive Extension
Wilmington, NC 28405
Response to Notice of Violation dated July 9, 2018
Spray Irrigation Permit #WQ0000485
Valley Proteins Inc. — Rose Hill Division
Duplin County, NC
Dear Ms. King:
RECEIVED/NCDENR/QWR
JUL 2 0 2018
Water Quality Regional
Operations Section
Wilmington Regional Office
Please accept this letter as a response to the Notice of Violation issued to Valley
Proteins on July 9, 2018.
As outlined in our .Notice of Deficiency response that was submitted to your office on
April 5, 2018, our facility experienced an increase in nitrites in the wastewater plant in
late 2017. Elevated nitrites in the wastewater treatment plant are unusual for this
facility.. As a result of the increased nitrites, our Plant Available Nitrogen concentration
increased substantially during the months of November, December, and January.
In response to this issue, wastewater temperature was increased by adjusting influent
condensate temperature, a methanol drip was installed at the aeration basin, and the
system was re -seeded with waste activated sludge. These measures were put into
place promptly and nitrites were restored back to normal levels by the beginning of
February. As a result, Plant Available Nitrogen concentration decreased from 76.6
mg/L in February to 17.9 mg/L in March, 2018.
In addition to- high nitrites, unseasonably cold weather conditions during the month of
January resulted in a loss of spray irrigation for a week due to frozen equipment and
piping. Once the temperature rose and equipment was thawed, the facility increased
irrigation in order to restore freeboards that were lost during the time that irrigation was
unavailable. Freeboards were restored by the end of March, 2018.
469 Yultaw eut Road
Rose Hill, NC 28458
0 540.877.2590
0 866.558.0994
Making
a Sustainable Difference. Transportation ® 866.651.8175
Rw valleyproteins.com

Please note that irrigation was ceased on Fields 7 and 8 prior to the issuance of the
Notice of Deficiency dated March 29, 2018. Current irrigation scheduling practices
include utilizing the remaining sprayfields with the goal of preventing negative impacts
to groundwater.
Should you have any questions, please contact me at [phone] ext. 25110.
Sincerely,
Steve Leste r
General Manager
c: Robert Vogler