NC0020800_Remission Request_20181105

J "M Ut andmw
IM .Main Shed
J U J3ax 1210
Qndwm, Ne289U1
J hmw: 828-321-3113 9avx: 828-321-4159
James D. Reid, Mayor BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Steve Jordan, Mayor Pro Tern Richelle Phillips
Scott Stalcup
Michael G. Sheidy
November 5, 2018
Subject: Notice of Violation and Assessment of Civil Penalty
for Violations of North Carolina General Statute (G.S.) 143-215.1(a)(6)
and NPDES WW Permit No. NCO020800
Town of Andrews RECEIVE®/®ENR/DWR
Andrews WWTP NOV 19 2018
Case No. LM-2018-0049
Cherokee County Water Resources
Permitting Section
To whom it may concern,
The Town of Andrews and the Andrews WWTP formally request remission of the civil penalties levied
against the Town of Andrews for the Notice of Violation and Assessment of Civil Penalty, Case #: LM-
2018-0049 for the month of February 2018.
Our reasons for this request for remission are based on the following criteria as set forth in the
Justification For Remission Request form along with an explanation for each factor:
(b) The violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation;
For week three of February 2018, our facility exceeded our Permitted Weekly Geometric Mean for
Coliform,Fecal MF, MFC Broth 44.5 C.
During this period, our records indicate that we experienced an increase in average flow for a 10 day
period.
Additionally, our facility was still in the process of upgrades as part of Phase I of the Town of Andrews
Wastewater Treatment Plant Capital Improvements project. The need for an automatic flow -
proportional feed for our chlorination and dechlorination system was to be a part of these upgrades. At
the time of this extreme rain event, the upgrade to our Chlorination/Dechlorination system had not
been completed yet, so our operators were still attempting to adjust the feed rate manually. This poses
certain difficulties when taking into consideration that it typically takes a day or two to get Fecal
Coliform results back from our lab if there is a discrepancy. This is due to the nature of the test itself,
and is not the fault of any one party. Under these circumstances there were times when we were not
aware that we needed to make an adjustment until late in the next day. By that time we have lost two

days in reality. Operators worked to make the proper adjustments to the feed rate as the week passed
and were able to resolve the issue. Therefore, this shows that the Town of Andrews WWTP made a good
faith effort within its knowledge and capability at the time to promptly abate continuing environmental
damage.
Our plant had flows well above our rated (and state approved) 1.5 MGD capacity for six of the ten
aforementioned days, making it impossible to treat more wastewater than our plant was rated to hold.
In essence, a fine is being sought for an act of nature that we, at our "rated" capacity could not
handle. We did not set this rating, nor were the former town officials or WWTP operators responsible
for setting this rating. Therefore, this cannot be placed at the feet of plant operators or Town officials
for not meeting an unachievable and impossible standard under the circumstances.
It should be noted that the process of upgrading our Chlorination/Dechlorination feed system was
completed not long thereafter, and we have showed excellent improvement in this area throughout the
duration of 2018. It is also worth mentioning that this was one of the primary areas of concern and focus
for the implementation of the Capital Improvement Plan to begin with, and I feel that the Town as well
as the Wastewater Plant has went above and beyond in their vision to see this accomplished.
(c) The violation was inadvertent...;
For the month of February 2018 Notice of Violation and Assessment of Civil Penalty Case #: LM-2018-
0049 there are eight assessment factors listed for "failure to properly monitor". This issue was a simple
case of oversight, and was completely inadvertent.
At the time of these violations, I was under the assumption that in order to mark a specific date as a
holiday I would use the option "holiday" from the drop down menu given within the eDMR online
system. The day in question February 19, 2018 was for us a town holiday. When I used the "holiday"
option to mark this day as a holiday, I did not know at the time that this would delete any information
that was entered into the specific parameter category for that day for all parameters. I have since
learned that town holidays are not necessarily state holidays, and are not considered official holidays by
the state or the NCDEQ. It was also brought to my attention by Janet Cantwell of the Asheville regional
office on 6/21/18 that in order for the eDMR to accurately record my submission into each specific
parameter category for a given day that I must ignore the holiday feature so that it will always include
the plant "Flow" as set forth in our permit, while manually entering an "H" into each of the given
parameter categories. Her willingness to be of assistance, and her knowledge of the eDMR system was
immensely helpful to us.
I have now returned to our reports within the eDMR system and have made the proper adjustments for
the date of 2/19/2018, and have resubmitted the report.
Based upon these criteria I feel that our request for remission is justified. The Town of Andrews as well
as Wastewater Treatment Operators, and all other entities involved have worked hard to make the vast
improvements that have been made. I feel that under the circumstances, which have been well -
documented and known to the Town as well as the NCDEQ, and taking into consideration the effort,
expense, and willingness during the completion of Phase 1 of our Capital Improvement Plan, it would be
both an injustice and a disservice to the Town of Andrews as well as the already hard-pressed taxpayers
to seek enforcement of this penalty.

Respectfully,
Timothy Wood
Andrews WWTP-ORC
[phone]
wastewaterplant@andrewsnc.c

DocuSign Envelope ID. A7F1C6D6-9ED7-4CC3-88A1-C906D5C2CD88
JUSTIFICATION FOR REIMSSION REQUEST
Case Number:
LM-2018-0049
Assessed Party:
Town of Andrews
Permit No.:
NCO020800
County: Cherokee
Amount Assessed: $956.68
Please use this form when requesting remission of this civil penalty. You must also complete the "Request For Remission,
Waiver of Right to an Administrative Hearing, and Stipulation of Facts" form to request remission of this civil penalty.
You should attach any documents that you believe support your request and are necessary for the Director to consider in
evaluating your request for remission. Please be aware that a request for remission is limited to consideration of the five
factors listed below as they may relate to the reasonableness of the amount of the civil penalty assessed. Requesting
remission is not the proper procedure for contesting whether the violation(s) occurred or the accuracy of any of the factual
statements contained in the civil penalty assessment document. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143B-282.1(c), remission of a civil
penalty maybe granted only when one or more of the following five factors apply. Please check each factor that you
believe applies to your case and provide a detailed explanation, including copies of supporting documents, as to why the
factor applies (attach additional pages as needed).
(a) one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors in N.C.G. S. 143B-282.1(b) were wrongfully applied to the
detriment of the petitioner (the assessment factors are listed in the civil penalty assessment document);
(b) the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting from the violation (i.e., explain the
steps that you took to correct the violation and prevent future occurrences);
(c) the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident (i.e., explain why the violation was unavoidable or
something you could not prevent or prepare for);
(d) the violator had not been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations;
(e) payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining necessary remedial actions (i.e., explain
how payment of the civil penalty will prevent you from performing the activities necessary to achieve
compliance).
EXPLANATION:

DocuSign Envelope ID: A7F1C6D6-gED7-4CC3-88A1-C906D5C2CD88
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
COUNTY OF CHEROKEE
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT ) WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN
OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST ) ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND
STIPULATION OF FACTS
Town of Andrews )
Andrews WWTP )
PERMIT NO. NCO020800 ) CASE NO. LM-2018-0049
Having been assessed civil penalties totaling $956.68 for violation(s) as set forth in the assessment document of the Division
of Water Resources dated October 26, 2018, the undersigned, desiring to seek remission of the civil penalty, does hereby
waive the right to an administrative hearing in the above -stated matter and does stipulate that the facts are as alleged in the
assessment document. The undersigned further understands that all evidence presented in support of remission of this civil
penalty must be submitted to the Director of the Division of Water Resources within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice
of assessment. No new evidence in support of a remission request will be allowed after (30) days from the receipt of the
notice of assessment.
This the N day of I�J1rQ�7�l�i�- , 20�
ADDRESS
TELEPHONE
i
6
� 01
IV
AJ
7