NC0026441_LV-2018-0193 Remission Decision_20181212

-~vot WATT„,,, ROY COOPER
3 ` i Governor
+�e' r2 s MICHAEL S. REGAN
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oSecretary
Fe.,4 i LINDA CULPEPPER
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NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
December 12, 2018
CERTIFIED MAIL#7016 2140 0000 4371 0127
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mr. Bryan Thompson, Town Manager
Town of Siler City
PO Box 769
Siler City,NC 27344
SUBJECT: CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION REQUEST
Siler City WWTP
Permit NC0026441
Case LV-2018-0193
Chatham County
Dear Permittee:
The Division has considered the information submitted in support of your request for remission in
accordance with G.S. 143-215.6A(f) and has decided to modify the initial civil penalty assessment of
$1,537.78 ($1,500.00 civil penalty plus $37.78 enforcement)to the total amount of$1,237.78 ($1,200.00
civil penalty plus $37.78 enforcement).
Should you choose to pay the modified penalty,payment should be tendered to me at the letterhead
address within thirty(30) days of receipt of this letter. Please make checks payable to the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources.
You also have the option of presenting your request to the Committee on Civil Penalty Remissions,
which is comprised of members of the Environmental Management Commission. The Committee may
consider such requests and render final and binding decisions in these matters. You may argue your
request before the Committee, and the Division staff will argue against any reduction of the assessment.
Should you choose to present your request to the Committee,please notify me at the letterhead address
within thirty(30) days of the receipt of this letter. Your request will be placed on the agenda of an
upcoming Committee meeting, and you will be notified of the date and time. If the Division does not
receive a response regarding this notice, Division staff will automatically place your case on the agenda
of a future Committee meeting.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
1617 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1617
919-707-9000

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions,please contact Brianna Young
at 919-707-3619 or [e-mail].
Sincerely,
_..._
Linda 1• pper
Director, Division of Water Resources
Attachment: DWR Civil Assessment Remission Factor Sheet(copy) &Request for Oral Presentation Sheet
cc: Enforcement File#: LV-2018-0193
Raleigh Regional Office
Central Files

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
COUNTY OF Chatham DWQ Case Number LV-2018-0193
IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT OF )
CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST: ) REQUEST FOR ORAL PRESENTATION
Town of Siler City )
I hereby request to make an oral presentation before the Environmental Management Commission's
Committee on Civil Penalty Remissions in the matter of the case noted above. In making this request, I
assert that I understand all of the following statements:
• This request will be reviewed by the Chairman of the Environmental Management Commission and
may be either granted or denied.
• Making a presentation will require the presence of myself and/or my representative during a
Committee meeting held in Raleigh, North Carolina.
• My presentation will be limited to discussion of issues and information submitted in my original
remission request, and because no factual issues are in dispute, my presentation will be limited to five
(5) minutes in length.
The North Carolina State Bar's Authorized Practice of Law Committee has ruled that the appearance in a
representative capacity at quasi-judicial hearings or proceedings is limited to lawyers who are active
members of the bar. Proceedings before the Committee on Remissions are quasi-judicial.You should
consider how you intend to present your case to the Committee in light of the State Bar's opinion and
whether anyone will be speaking in a representative capacity for you or a business or governmental entity. If
you or your representative would like to speak before the Committee, you must complete and return this
form within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter.
Depending on your status as an individual, corporation,partnership or municipality,the State Bar's Opinion affects how
you may proceed with your oral presentation.See www.ncbar.com/ethics,Authorized Practice Advisory Opinion 2006-1
and 2007 Formal Ethics Opinion 3.
• If you are an individual or business owner and are granted an opportunity to make an oral presentation before
the Committee, then you do not need legal representation before the Committee;however,if you intend on
having another individual speak on your behalf regarding the factual situations, such as an expert, engineer or
consultant,then you must also be present at the meetmg in order to avoid violating the State Bar's Opinion on
the unauthorized practice of law.
• If you are a corporation,partnership or municipality and are granted an opportunity to make an oral
presentation before the Committee,then your representative must consider the recent State Bar's Opinion and
could be considered practicing law without a license if he or she is not a licensed attorney:Presentation of facts
by non-lawyers is permissible.
If you choose to request an oral presentation,please make sure that signatures on the previously submitted Remission
Request form and this Oral Presentation Request form are: 1)for individuals and business owners,your own signature
and 2)for corporations,partnerships and municipalities,signed by individuals who would not violate the State Bar's
Opinion on the unauthorized practice of law.
Also,be advised that the Committee on Civil Penalty Remissions may choose not to proceed with hearing your case if the
Committee is informed that a violation of the State Bar occurs.
This the day of , 20 .
SIGNATURE TITLE(President, Owner, etc.)
ADDRESS
TELEPHONE ( )

DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES
CIVIL PENALTY REMISSION FACTORS
Case Number: LV-2018-0193 Region: Raleigh County: Chatham
Assessed Entity: Town of Siler City WWTP Permit: NC0026441
® (a) Whether one or more of the civil penalty assessment factors were wrongly applied to
the detriment of the petitioner:
Permittee States:The Town feels these penalties would have never occurred had the Permitting Unit
reviewed and acted upon our request to have Cadmium removed from our permit as stated in our
permit NC0026441 A. (6)Compliance Schedule for Total Cadmium Limits, if 12 monthly data points
for cadmium are less than 2.0 ug/l,we may petition the Division for this removal.
DWR Response:The cadmium limit is in the permit, and there is a reason why it was not removed.
The Division feels that cadmium is an appropriate monitoring constituent, especially considering the
monitoring data which indicates a problem with this constituent.Also,the Town's response to factor
`c' below further demonstrates why Cadmium should be included in the effluent monitoring
parameters for this permit.
❑ (b) Whether the violator promptly abated continuing environmental damage resulting
from the violation:
// (c) Whether the violation was inadvertent or a result of an accident:
Permittee States:We have conducted many samplings out in our system in an effort to narrow down
its location.With the inconsistency of its appearance in our system we have not been able to fmd the
source of the Cadmium.With no luck in finding the source we turned our effort to trying to remove
the Cadmium from our system.We meet with our engineer and a couple chemical companies looking
for the best way to remove Cadmium that would help us better our process in the most effective way.
After multiple jar test,we have determined that an emulsion polymer will aid in removal of the
Cadmium from our system.We have recently set this up in our plant and went online 5/4/2018.We
are optimistic about this as we have not had any Cadmium in our effluent samples since placing this
online.
DWR Response:The DMR data and the pennittee's response to the CPA indicate that the Cadmium
exceedance is not inadvertent or the result of an accident.
® (d) Whether the violator had been assessed civil penalties for any previous violations:
Permittee States:The Town had previous violations in April of 2016 and April 2017 and was not
assessed a civil penalty.
DWR Response:The Town was assessed penalties for Cadmium exceedances for May 2017 (LV-
2018-0075),November 2017(LV-2018-0084), and January 2018 (this case,LV-2018-0193)
violations.The Town paid two of the three penalties assessed.
❑ (e) Whether payment of the civil penalty will prevent payment for the remaining
necessary remedial actions:

DECISION(Check One)
Request Denied 0
Full Remission 0 Retain Enforcement Costs? Yes 0 No❑
Partial Remission 2 $ r (Enter Amount)
i 2/0,A
inda Culpepper Date
for