WQCS00037_NOV-2019-DV-0085 Response_20190213

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NORTH
Post Office Box 207 Shelby, NC 28151-0207
February 13, 2019
Mr. Corey Basinger, Regional Supervisor
Division of Water Resources, Mooresville Regional Office
610 East Center Avenue, Suite 301
Mooresville, NC 28115
Re: Notice of Violation
Tracking #NOV-2019-DV-0085
Collection System Permit #WQCS00037
City of Shelby, Cleveland County
Dear Mr. Basinger:
The City of Shelby received the above referenced Notice of Violation regarding the sanitary sewer
overflows that occurred on December 29`h and 30' at 1050 Sam Lattimore Road and a spill at 2304
Sherriff Allen Road on the westside sewer forcemain. The Westside system primarily serves two
schools, a neighborhood of 70 homes, small industrial park with low volume sewer dischargers and a
large industry that provides 500,000 gals/day. Both spills were discovered by the customers/public and
who then reported them to the City.
The spill at 1050 Sam Lattimore Road on December 29th was reported to the City at 3:00pm. Sewer
crews responded and were on the scene by 3:45pm and had the spill corrected by 5:00pm. The City was
able to cut the westside liftstation off and hold sewer in the gravity lines (15 inch and 24 inch) while the
valves on the parallel 10/12 inch forcemain were opened. There was available capacity in a 24 inch line
gravity line at the liftstation that was being installed for another industry that is slated to begin
operations in March.
The westside Liftstation has two parallel sections of forcemain from the Crest Liftstation to the First
Broad WWTP. The original line installed was a 10 & 12 inch C900 PVC line that was installed around
1999. In 2009, a new 16 inch ductile line was installed from the Crest Liftstation to the Sam Lattimore
area where it tied back into the 12 inch C900 line. In 2018 the City installed another parallel section
from College (beyond spill location) and required the installation of Protecto 401 coated ductile iron
pipe.
Around the Sam Lattimore area is the highest point along the route to the WWTP and at this point a
portion of the lines are drained through gravity action to the WWTP even though the lines are
considered forcemains. When this happens, a large section of the unprotected DIP forcemain is being
exposed to corrosive hydrogen sulfide gas that is essentially trapped. Looking through the
specifications, the engineer specified higher pressure ductile iron pipe for the line from lift station to just
beyond 1050 Sam Lattimore Road at the College Road intersection; however they did not require a
www.cityofshelby.com

protective coating product such as Protecto 401. The last 1,300 feet before you get to College is the
area that is subjected to the corrosive conditions because of drainage. See the attached map, from
College Avenue to the treatment plant is constructed with coated and pvc lines.
The wall thickness of the line has been severely degraded by the hydrogen sulfide. Contract crews
replaced a section of line roughly 20 feet in length. Since this break, the City has utilized an engineer to
review the design and help determine a scope for replacement of the forcemain. It was critical to
determine how much of the line would need to be replaced. Our engineer provided a recommendation
of 1,300 feet of replacement of either C900 or epoxy coated ductile pipe. Bids were received on January
24, 2019 and construction is set to begin in the coming weeks with a contract completion time of March
15, 2019.
The spill at 2034 Sam Lattimore Road on December 301 was reported to the City at 10:27am on
December 30, 2018. Sewer crews responded and were on the scene by 11:15pm and had the spill
corrected by 12:10pm. This spill was on the 10" forcemain that was put into service during the break of
the 16" forcemain the previous night. With lower flows the City has been able to utilize only the 16"
forcemain. An air release valve isolation valve broke and was replaced by City crews. City replaced the
valve with a stainless steel isolation valve. The ARV was a newer unit. With the upcoming forcemain
replacement, the City will also replace isolation valves on all remaining air release valves including the
isolation valves.
Preventative Maintenance activities are performed by the City of Shelby. In review of our records, the
following information is provided:
Maintenance history — Line was installed in 2009. Air release valves are checked every 6
months. The air release valve had been replaced but the isolation valve had not. City replaced
the isolation valve at the time of the spill.
No other breaks have occurred on the forcemains.
Your letter lists ten areas of review in consideration for determining civil penalty amounts for a sanitary
sewer overflows. We have included the following brief responses for each item:
• Volume —1050 Sam Lattimore - 48,000 gallons; 2034 Sam Lattimore - 4,150 gallons
• Volume reaching surface waters —1050 Sam Lattimore - 48,000 gallons; 2034 Sam Lattimore
- 500 gallons
• Duration and gravity —
1050 Sam Lattimore — 2 hours
Because of this area flowing by gravity to the WWTP only a small portion of the pumped flow
was spilling
2034 Sam Lattimore —1 hour 43 minutes
• Impacts to public health - There were no identified impacts to public health.
• Fish kills - No fish kills were observed following this overflow.
• Recreational area closures - No recreational areas were closed due to this overflow.
www.ciiyofshelby.com

• History of spills —
1050 Sam Lattimore - One additional spill occurred on October 11, 2018. City began
evaluating the situation immediately with an engineer.
2034 Sam Lattimore —This was the first spill at this location.
• Cost of rectifying damage —
No environmental damage was identified requiring remediation. City staff utilized a
contractor assist with the repairs to the forcemain and utilized City staff for cleanup and
lime application.
• Intentional spill —
These overflows were not intentional and were a result of material specification and
corrosion. City will place line with corrosion resistant line.
Isolation valve was replaced with stainless steel valve and the other isolation valves will be
upgraded as well.
• Money saved by non-compliance —
No money was saved by this non-compliance. This line was installed in 2019 and the City
did not have any indication of corrosion in the line. The City will replace the upper section
of the line from the high point to the transition to epoxy coated pipe. A forcemain crossover
will also be included for a total price of around $190,000. Work is scheduled to begin when
materials arrive.
We recognize the requirements of our wastewater collection system permit and the importance to the
environment and public health in the preventing sanitary sewer overflows. The City of Shelby had no
idea this line was on the verge of failure from corrosion, particularly since this line was placed into
service in 2009. The older forcemain was forced into service to help reduce the overflow potential with
the forcemain break on the 16 inch line. The air release valve was new but the City did not know that
the isolation valve had corroded. The City replaced the valve and will be replacing the other isolation
valves on the 10 inch force main in the coming weeks. The City has quickly developed a replacement
plan for the plan for this section of line and the contractor has begun to order materials and anticipates
completion by March 15'h
In response to the City's actions to correct the problems both short and long term and considering the
fact that these areas have not been reoccurring problems for a significant amount of time, the City
requests that NCDEQ withhold the issuance or a civil penalty assessment for the subject spills.
Please contact me at anytime regarding any further information or questions you might have regarding
this issue. I can be reached at 704-669-6570 or [e-mail].
Sincerely,
1�w " " In,
$V)6
David Hux
Water Resources Director
cc: Rick Howell; City Manager
Brad Greene; Plant Operations Superintendent
Mark Swink; Field Operations Superintendent
Adam Howell; Collection System Crew Supervisor
Certified Mail: 7018 0680 00010376 5101
www.ciZyofshelby.com

ROY COOPER
Governor
MICHAEL S. REGAN
sermfery
LINDA CULPEPPER
DlrMfor
NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
CERTIFIED MAIL: 70161370 0000 2591 1629 "
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
February 01, 2019
Rick Howell, City Manager
City of Shelby
PO Box 207
Shelby, NC 28151-0207
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION 8c INTENT TO ISSUE CIVIL PENALTY
Tracking No.: NOV-2019-DV-0085
Sanitary Sewer Overflows - December 2018 "
Collection System Permit No. WQCS00037
Shelby Collection System
Cleveland County
Dear Mr. Howell:
A review has been conducted of the self -reported Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO's) 5-Day Reports submitted by
City of Shelby. The Division's Mooresville Regional Office concludes that the City of Shelby violated Permit
Condition I (2) of Permit No. WQCS00037 by failing to effectively manage, maintain, and operate their collection
system so that there is no SSO (Sanitary Sewer Overflow) to the land or surface waters and the SSO constituted
making an outlet to waters of the State for purposes of G.S. 143-215.1(a)(1), for which a permit is required by
G.S. 143-215.1.
The Mooresville Regional Office is providing the City of Shelby an opportunity to provide evidence and justification
as to why the City of Shelby should not be assessed a civil penalty for the violation(s) that are summarized below:
Total Vol
Total Surface
Incident Start Duration Vol Water
Number Date (Mina) Location Cause (Gals) (Gals) DWR Action
201803680 12/17/2018 39 1121 S. Morgan St. Grease 195 100 No Action
201803714 12/20/2018 27 1302 Kings Rod Debris in line 135 135 No Action
201803810 12/29/2018 120 1050 Sam Lattimore Rd. Pipe Failure (Break) 48,000 48,000 Notice of Violation
w/ Intent to Enforce
D — North Coroine Departrrentof Enwonnnenta!Qua;1y I Drvs,onof Water Resources
JV.--� G r„/ Nmresvi a Regnna: Office 1 610 East Center Avenue, Su1e 3011 h"oorasv"k. North CsroTtna 28115

Incident Start Duration
Number Date (Mins) Location
201603811 12/30/2018 103 2304 Sheriff Allen Rd.
Total Vol
Total Surface
Vol Water
Cause (Gals) (Gals) DWR Action
Other 4,150 500 Notice of Violation
This Notice of Violation / Notice of Intent to Enforce (NOV/NOI) is being issued for the noted violation. Pursuant
to G.S. 143-215.6A, a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) may be assessed
against any person who violates or fails to act in accordance with the terms, conditions, or requirements of any
permit issued pursuant to G.S. 143-215.1.
This office requests that you respond to this Notice, in writing, within 10 business days of its
receipt. In your response, you should address the causes of non-compliance, remedial actions, and all other
actions taken to prevent the recurrence of similar situations. The response to this correspondence will be
considered in this process. Enforcement decisions will also be based on volume spilled, volume reaching surface
waters, duration and gravity, impacts to public health, fish kills or recreational area closures. Other factors
considered in determining the amount of the civil penalty are the violator's history of non-compliance, the cost of
rectifying the damage, whether the spill was intentional and whether money was saved by non-compliance.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact W. Corey Basinger with the Water Quality Section
in the Mooresville Regional Office at 704-663-1699 or via email at [e-mail].
Sincerely,
E DocuSigned
by: A14CC681AF27425...
W. Corey Basinger, Regional Supervisor
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
Mooresville Regional Office
Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ
Cc: Mooresville Regional Office - WQS File
Central Files, Water Quality Section
_� North Caro) na Department of Enwronmentai Quany I Djvsun of Weer Pesouroes
D W) Moorerw�e Reg Bona;Office 1810 East Center Avenue,Suxe 3011 Mooresvdte, North Gros. n a 28115

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