WQ0006372_Final Permit_19920626

State of North Carolina
Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources
Division of Environmental Management
512 North Salisbury Street • Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
James G. Martin, Govemx
William W. Cabey, Jr., Secretary
George T. Everett, Ph.D
Director
June 26, 1992
Mr. R. J. Schabilion, President
Emerald Village, Incorporated
Post Office Box 98
Little Switzerland, North Carolina 28749
Subject: Permit No. WQ0006372
Emerald Village, Incorporated
Little Switzerland Mining Company
Recycle System
Mitchell County
Dear Mr. Schabilion:
In accordance with your application received April 9, 1992 we are forwarding herewith Permit No.
WQ0006372 dated June 26, 1992, to Emerald Village, Incorporated for the construction and operation of
the subject tourist gem mine flume recycle system.
This permit shall be effective from the date of issuance until May 31, 1997, and shall be subject to
the conditions and limitations as specified therein. Please pay particular attention to the monitoring
requirements in this permit. Failure to establish an adequate system for collecting and maintaining the
required operational information will result in future compliance problems.
If any parts, requirements, or limitations contained in this permit are unacceptable to you, you have
the right to request an adjudicatory hearing upon written request within 30 days following receipt of this
permit. This request must be in the form of a written petition, conforming to Chapter 150B of North
Carolina General Statutes, and filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings, P.O. Drawer 27447,
Raleigh, NC 27611-7447. Unless such demands are made this permit shall be final and binding.
Regional Offices
Asheville Fayetteville Mooresville Raleigh Washington Wilmington Winston-Salem
704/251-6208 919/486-1541 704/663-1699 919/733-2314 919/946-6481 919/395-3900 919/896-7007
Pollution Prevention Pays
P.O. Box 29535, Raleigh, North Carolina 27626.0535 Telephone [phone]
An Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer

One set of approved plans and specifications is tieing forwarded to you. If you need additional
information concerning this matter, please contact Mr. John Seymour at 9191733-5083.
Scerely,
George T. Ev rett
cc: Mitchell County Health Department
Asheville Regional Office
Training and Certification
Facilities Assessment Unit

NORTH CAROLINA
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND NATURAL RESOURCES
RALEIGH
RECYCLE SYSTEM PERMIT
In accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of Chapter 143, General Statutes of North Carolina
as amended, and other applicable Laws, Rules, and Regulations
PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED TO
Emerald Village, Incorporated
Mitchell County
FOR THE
construction and operation of a 33,180 GPD tourist gem mine flume recycle system consisting of a closed
600 gallon primary settling tank, a closed 600 gallon secondary settling tank, a closed 600 gallon pump
tank with a 79 GPM pump and force main back to the head of the gem flume, and all associated controls,
piping, valves, and appurtenances to serve Emerald Village, Incorporated's Little Switzerland Mining
Company with no discharge of wastes to the surface waters, pursuant to the application received April 9,
1992, and in conformity with the project plan, specifications, and other supporting data subsequently filed
and approved by the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources and considered a part of
this permit.
This permit shall be effective from the date of issuance until May 31, 1997, and shall be subject to
the following specified conditions and limitations:
1. This permit shall become voidable unless the facilities are constructed in accordance with
the conditions of this permit, the approved plans, specifications, and other supporting data.
2. This permit is effective only with respect to the nature and volume of wastes described in
the application and other supporting data.
3. The facilities shall be properly maintained and operated at all times.
4. This permit is not transferable. In the event there is a desire for the facilities to change
ownership, or there is a name change of the Permittee, a formal permit request must be
submitted to the Division of Environmental Management accompanied by an application
fee, documentation from the parties involved, and other supporting materials as may be
appropriate. The approval of the request will be considered on its merits and may or may
not be approved.
5. In the event that the facilities fail to perform satisfactorily, including the creation of
nuisance conditions, the Permittee shall take immediate corrective action, including those as
may be required by this Division, such as the construction of additional or replacement
wastewater treatment or disposal facilities.
3

6. The Asheville Regional Office, phone no. 704/ 251-6208 shall be notified at least forty-
eight (48) hours in advance of operation of the installed facilities so that an in-place
inspection can be made. Such notification to the regional supervisor shall be made during
the normal, office hours from 8:00 a.m. until 3.00 p.m. on Monday through Friday,
excluding State Holidays.
7. The sludge generated from these treatment facilities must be disposed of in accordance with
General Statute 143-215.1 and in a manner approved by the North Carolina Division of
Environmental Management.
8. The issuance of this permit shall not relieve the Permittee of the responsibility for damages
to sauface or groundwaters resulting from the operation of this facility.
9. The facilities shall be effectively maintained and operated as a non -discharge system to
prevent the discharge of any wastewater resulting from the operation of this facility.
10. Diversion or bypassing of untreated wastewater from the treatment facilities is prohibited.
11. Any monitoring deemed necessary by the Division of Environmental Management to insure
surface and ground water protection will be established and an acceptable sampling
rero�.g schedule shall be followed.
12. Adequate inspection, maintenance, and cleaning shall be provided by the Permittee to
insure proper operation of the subject facilities.
13. The Permittee or his designee shall inspect the wastewater recycle facilities to prevent
malfunctions and deterioration, operator errors and discharges which may cause or lead to
the release of wastes to the environment, a threat to human health, or a nuisance. The
Permittee shall keep an inspection log or summary including at least the date and time of
inspection, observations made, and any maintenance, repairs, or corrective actions taken
by the Permittee. This log of inspections shall be maintained by the Permittee for a period
of three years from the date of the inspection and shall be made available upon request to
the Division of Environmental Management or other permitting authority.
14. Any duly authorized officer, employee, or representative of the Division of Environmental
Management may, upon presentation of credentials, enter and inspect any property,
premises or place on or related to the recycle system at any reasonable time for the purpose
of determining compliance with this permit; may inspect or copy any records that must be
kept under the terms and conditions of this permit; or may obtain samples of groundwater,
surface water, or leachate.
15. The annual administering and compliance fee must be paid by the Permittee within thirty
(30) days after being billed by the Division. Failure to pay the fee accordingly may cause
the Division to initiate action to revoke this permit as specified by 15 NCAC 2H .0205
(c)(4).
16. Failure to abide by the conditions and limitations contained in this permit may subject the
Permittee to an enforcement action by the Division of Environmental Management in
accordance with North Carolina General Statute 143-215.6A to 143-215.6C.
17. The issuance of this permit does not preclude the Permittee from complying with any and
all statutes, rules, regulations, or ordinances which may be imposed by other government
agencies (local, state, and federal) which have jurisdiction.
18. A set of approved plans and specifications for the subject project must be retained by the
Permittee for the life of this project.
4

19. Noncompliance Notification:
The Permittee shall report by telephone to the Asheville Regional Office, telephone no. 704/
251-6208 as soon as possible, but in no case more than 24 hours or on the next working
day following the occurrence or first knowledge of the occurrence of any of the following:
a. Any occurrence at the wastewater treatment facility which results in the treatment of
significant amounts of wastes which are abnormal in quantity or characteristic, such
as the dumping of the contents of a basin or tank; the known passage of a slug of
hazardous substance through the facility; or any other unusual circumstances.
b. Any process unit failure, due to known or unknown reasons, that render the facility
incapable of adequate wastewater treatment such as mechanical or electrical failures
of pumps, aerators, compressors, etc.
c. Any failure of a pumping station, sewer line, or treatment facility resulting in a by-
pass directly to receiving waters without treatment of all or any portion of the
influent to such station or facility.
d. Any time that self-monitoring information indicates that the facility is not in
compliance with its permit limitations.
Persons reporting such occurrences by telephone shall also file a written report in letter
form within 15 days following first knowledge of the occurrence. This report must outline
the actions taken or proposed to be taken to ensure that the problem does not recur.
20. A leakage test shall be performed on the settling tanks and dosing tank to insure that any
exfiltration occurs at a rate which does not exceed twenty (20) gallons per twenty-four (24)
hour per 1,000 gallons of tank capacity. The engineer's certification will serve as proof of
compliance with this condition.
21. Upon classification of the facility by the Certification Commission, the Permittee shall
employ a certified wastewater treatment plant operator to be in responsible charge (ORC) of
the wastewater treatment facilities. The operator must hold a certificate of the type and
grade at least equivalent to or greater than the classification assigned to the wastewater
treatment facilities by the Certification Commission. The Permittee must also employ a
certified back-up operator of the appropriate type and grade to comply with the conditions
of Title 15A, Chapter 8A, .0202. The ORC of the facility must visit each Class I facility at
least weekly and each Class II, III, and IV facility at least daily, excluding weekends and
holidays, and must properly manage and document daily operation and maintenance of the
facility and must comply with all other conditions of Title 15A, Chapter 8A, .0202.
22. The Permittee, at least six (6) months prior to the expiration of this permit, shalI request its
extension. Upon receipt of the request, the Commission will review the adequacy of the
facilities described therein, and if warranted, will extend the permit for such period of time
and under such conditions and limitations as it may deem appropriate.
Permit issued this the 26th day of June, 1992
NORTH CAROLINA
(--GeorgT. Ever t,
Division of Environ
By Authority of the
Permit No. WQ0006372
ONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
Management Commission
5

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ITEM
U
(2)
(3)
RATING SCALE FOR CLASSIFICATION OF FACILITiES
Name of Plant:
Owner or Contact Person:_
Mailing Address: Vo l�• —
County._ -- r`t�l� Telephone: 70 ]mss= 6� �-
NPDES Permit No. NC00 Nondisc. Per_ No. �rr�I�dDG37Z
IssueDate: Expiration Date:
Ex_i4tinrl Facility New Facility c.
Rated By: •ems lc Date: AkN �/S9Z-
Reviewed (Train. & Cert.) Reg. Office
Reviewed (Train. & Cert.) Central Office
OHC Grade
Plant Class: (circle one) . 1 II Ill JV Total Points
POINTS
Industrial Pretreatment Units and/or
10
Inductriai Pretreatmeril Program
(see definition No. 33)
4
OCSIGN FLOW OF PLANT IN GPD
10
(not applicable to non -contaminated cooling waters, sludge
handling facifilies for water purification plants, totally
floating or rotor) ...... . ... . ...
closed cycle systems (def. No. 11), and facilities
Separate Sludge Reaeration .. ,
consisting only of Item (4) (d) or Items (4) (d) and (11) (d))
o 20,000 ..........................
1
20,001 -- 50.000.......... ................
2
50,001 100,000 ..........................
3
100,001 -• 250,000 ................. `........
4
250,001 -- 500,000 ... . ......................
5
500,001 --1.000,000 . . ........................
8
1,000,001 .- 2,000,000 ............... . ........
10
2,000,001 (and up) - rate 1 point additional for each
200,000 gpd capacity up to a
5
maximum of 30
Design Flow (gpd)
20
PRELIMINARY UNITS (see definition no. 32)
10
(a) Bar Screens ................................
1
or
8
(b) Mechanical Screens, Static Screens or
3
Comminuting Devices ... . ....... .............
2
(c) Grit Removal ...............................
1
or
5
(d) Mechanical or Aerated Grit Removal ...........
2
(e) Flow Measuring Device ..... . . . ...... . ........
1
of
(f) Instrumented Flow Measurement .. . ...........
2
(g) Preaeralicn .................... . ...........
2
(h) Influent Flow -Equalizalion ... . ............... 2
(i) Grease or Oil Separators - Gravity .......... 2
Mechanical.......... 3
Dissolved Air Flotation. 8
{j) Prechlorination ... . . ............ . ........... . 5
(4) PRIMARY TREATMENT UNITS
(a) Septic Tank (see definition no. 43) . ... . ...... ... 2
(b) Imhoff Tank .................................. 5
(c) Primary Clarifiers .. . .... . ... . ..... . .... . ..... 5
(d) Settling Ponds or Settling Tanks for Inorganic
Non-toxic Materials (sludge handling facilities
for water purification plants, sand, gravel,
stone, and other mining operations except
recreational activities such as gem or gold
mining)..., ..... .............. ........... 2
(5) SECONDARY TREATMENT UNITS
10
(a) Carbonaceous Stage
(i)Aeration - High Purity Oxygen System .....
20
Diffused Air System ...........
10
Mechanical Air System (fixed,
S
floating or rotor) ...... . ... . ...
8
Separate Sludge Reaeration .. ,
3
(ii) Trickling t=iller
High Rale .............. . ....
7
Standard Rate ...............
5
Packed Tower ...............
5
(iii) Biological Aerated Filter or Aerated
8
Biological Filter .................. . ...
10
(iv) Aerated Lagoons ..................... .
10
(v) Rotating Biological Contactors ..........
10
(vi) Sand Filters -
intermittent biological ...
2
recirculating biological . _ ...
3
-� (vii) Stabilization Lagoons ...................
S
(viii)Clarifier ...................... . .. . ....
5
(ix) Single stage system for combined
carbonaceous removal of BOD and
nitrogenous removal by nitrification
(see def. No. 12) (Points for this item
have to be in addition to items (S) (a)
(i) through (5) (a) (viii) ...... . ... . . .....
8
(x) Nutrient additions to enhance BOD
removal ...............................
5
(xi) Biological Culture ("Super Bugs") addition
to enhance organic compound removal .....
5
(b) Nitrogenous Stage
(i) Aeration - High Purity Oxygen System . .. ..
20
Diffused Air System .. _ ........
10
Mechanical Air System (fixed,
floating, or rotor) ...... ......
8
Separate Sludge Reaeralion .....
3
(it) Trickling Filter -
High Rale ... ...........
7
Standard Rate ............
5
Packed Tower ............
5
(iii) Biological Aerated Filler or Aerated
Biological Filter ........... .. . ........
(iv) Rotating Biological Contaclars . _ ... .......
7 0
(v) Sand Filler -
intermittent biological . ..
2
recirculating biological _ ..
3
(vi) Clarifier. ................ .... ....
5

TERTIAf_,Y,OR i:DVANCED TREATMENT UNIT
(10) CHEMICAL ADDITION SYSTCM (S) (See definition No. 9)
(a) Activated Carbons Be& -
(not applicable to chemical additions rated as item
willsout carbon regeneealion .................. 5
(3) (j). (5) (a) (xi), (6) (a). (6) (b), (7) (b), (7) (e),
with carbon regeneration .................... 1 S
(g) (a), (9) (b), or (9) (c) 5 points each: List:
(b) Powdered or Granular Activated Carbon Feed -
'lhout carbon regeneration ................. 5
th carbon regeneration ................... 1 5
(c} ,ir Stripping ............................. 5
(d) Denitrification Process (separate process) ... . . 10
(e) Electrodialysis .............................. 5
(11) MISCELLANEOUS UNITS
(f) Foam Separation ..... . ............ . .......... 5
(a) Holding Ponds, Holding Tanks or Settling Ponds
(g) Ion Exchange ........ . . . . ..................... 5
for Organic or Toxic Materials including wastes
(h) Land Application o, . ft:--:
from mining operations containing nitrogen and/or
(see definition no. 22b) (not applicable for
phosphorous compounds in amounts significantly
sand, gravel, stone and other similar mining
greater than is common for domestic wastewater .....,...-
operations)
(b) Effluent Flow Equalization (not applicable to storage
(i) on agricrillura[ly managed sites (See def.
basins which are inherent in land application systems).
No. 4) ............ . ..... . .............. 10
(c) Stage Discharge (not applicable to storage basins
(ii) by high rale infiltration on non -agriculturally
inherent in land application systems .....................................
managed sites (includes rotary distributors
(d) Pumps ........ :............
and similar fixed nozzle systems) _ .... - . _ _ .. 4
(e) Stand -9y Power Supply...........................................................
(iii) by subsurface disposal (includes low pressure
(1) Thermal Pollution Control Device : ........................... ............ .....
pipe systems and gravity systems except at
plants consisting of septic tank and nitrifica-
tion lines only) ....................... . . . . . . 4
TOTAL POINTS L/
(i) microscreens.................................. 5
(j) Phosphorus rternorai by Ci.[c.y:_af Pr2casses
CLASSIFICATION
(See def. No. 26) ............................ 20
(k) Polishing foods - t,•ithoul aeration ....... 2
Class I ......................................... ..._ _ 5 - 25 Points
with aeration ... _ ...... 5
Class II.............:...............................w. 26- 50 points
(I) Post Aeration - cascade .......... . ... 0
Class Ilt...... ...._.................................... __ 51- 65 Points
diffused or mechanical - - - 5
Class IV ........................................................ 66- Up Points
(m) Reverse: Osmosis ...... . . . . . . ................... 5
(n) Sand or Mixed -Media Filters - low rale ....... - .. _ 2
Facilities having a rating of one through four points, inclusive,
high rale .......... 5
do not require a certified operator. Classification of all other
(o) Treatment processes for removal of metal or
facilities requires a comparable grade operator in responsible
cyanide .................................... 1 5
charge.
Treatment processes for removal of toxic
materials other than metal or cyanide ......... 1 5
Facilities having an activated sludge process will be assigned
a minimum classification of Class 11.
SLUDGE TREATMENT
Facilities having treatment processes for the removal of metal
(a) Sludge Digestion Tank - Heated .. . .. . ... . . . ...
10 or cyanide will be assignee a minimum classification of Class l[.
Aerobic .... ......... . .
5
Unheated ..... . .......
3 Facilities having treatment processes for the biological removal
(b) Sludge Stabilization (chemical ar thermal) .. _ ....
5 of phosphorus will be assigned a minimum classification of Class
(c) Sludge Drying Beds - Gravity ... . .. . .. .......
2
Vacuum Assisted . : `.. -
5
(d) Sludge Elutrialion ... . . . ................... . ...
5 In -plant processes and related control equipment which are an
(e) Sludge Conditioner (chemical or thermal) ........
5 integral pAr.l of industrial production shall not be considered waste
(f) Sludge Thickener (gravity) . . . . . ............... . .
5 treatment. Likewise, discharges of wastewater from residences
(g) Dissolved Air Flotation Unit
having a design flow of 7,000 gpd or less, shall not be subject to
(not applicable to a unit rates as (3) O .........
8 rating.
(h) Sludge Gas UTizallon (including gas storage) - _ - -
2
(i) Sludge Holding Tank - Aerated ................
5 ADDITIONAL COMMENTS-.
Non-aerated.. . . . _ .... _ .
2
(j) Sludge Incinerator - (not including activated
carbon regeneration) .. _ . -
10
(k) Vacuum Filler, Centrifuge or Filler Press or other
similar dewatering devices _ ...... . ............
10
(8) St_UDGE DISPOSAL (including incinerated ash)
(a) Lagoon; .......... ..............................
2
(b) Land Application (surface and subsurface)
(see definilion 22a)
-where the facility holds the land app. permit ..
10
-by contracting to a land application operator who
holds the land application permit ................
2
-land application of sludge by a contractor who does
not hold the permit for the wastewater treatment
facilily where the. sludge is generated ....... - -
10
{c) Landfilled (burial) .......................... _ ..
5
(9) UISIiJt-L-CiION
(a) Chforinalion .......... . ............. .....
5
(b) Dechlorination ..... . ..................
5
(c) Ozone .............. . ..... .........
5
(d) Radialior............ .............
5