NC0077615_Other Correspondence_20180927

September 27, 2018
W. Corey Basinger, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Mooresville Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
Subject: NOTICE OF VIOLATION
Tracking number: NOV-2018-PC-0369
Permit No. NCO077615
Origin Food Group, LLC
Iredell County
Mr. Basinger,
AECEIVED/NCDENR/DWR
MOORESVILLWOROS
E REGIONq
C OFFtOEZ
Thank you for allowing Origin Food Group, LLC to respond to the Notice of Violation issued by
the Division of Water Resources on 13 September 28, 2018. Our response below is for the
entering of an unpermitted waste stream into the domestic wastewater treatment plant, as well as
failure to notify the Division of Water Resources within twenty four hours.
This issue arose when a lift station containing process waste from the manufacturing facility had
a pump failure and backed up on a Friday. Seeing the problem at hand and foreseeing process
wastes overflowing the lift station and running to a creek, staff pumped the contents of the
process waste lift station into the domestic wastewater lift station, sending it to the wastewater
plant in lieu of letting the process wastes run onto the ground and into a nearby surface water
source.
Not realizing that the process waste and domestic waste were under the authority of two separate
permits, no one was notified, thus creating a situation in which a violation occurred due to lack

of communication. By the time that the wastewater plant operator realized what had happened
on Monday of the following week and communicated with Origin Food staff, the twenty four-
hour period to report had been exceeded.
New pumps are installed in the lift station and a spare pump will be kept at the facility. We are
going to modify the electrical circuit so the lead pump will alternate between the two pumps.
The lift station will be monitored daily during the week by the maintenance department. If an
issue with the lift station cannot be resolved then we will call the local septic truck company to
come and pump out the lift station.
It is our belief that this issue was an isolated, one-time occurrence and was a result of lead pump
failure. The secondary pump had bad bearings that were seized up and was discovered when the
station high level light/buzzer came on because of the lead pump failure.
In light of these events, it is our request that the Division of Water Resources will take into
consideration the circumstances surrounding this event when determining enforcement on this
Notice of Violation.
Sincerely,
Origin Food Group, LLC
CC: Mike Myers, Envirolink Inc.
Heather Adams, Envirolink Inc.
Chris Bitterman, Envirolink inc.