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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDV-2019-0081_Remission (Request)_20190530 Qitp of afibeboro Water Resources Division Tel: 336-626-1201 Ext. 258 146 N Church Street PO Box 1106 Asheboro, NC 27204-1106 oR P` Fax: 336-626-1218 -4,0ER 2.6.• May 24, 2019 RECENED/NCDEQ/DWR Mr. Steven Lewis MA' .1 �? 2019 PERCS Unit Water Quality Division of Water Resources Permitting Section 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 Re: Request for Remission of Civil Penalties for Case No. DV-2019-0081 Dear Mr. Lewis: The City of Asheboro experienced multiple sanitary sewer overflows during the month of December due to abnormally heavy rainfall and blockage in our collection system. The City has been issued a Notice of Violation and assessed a Civil Penalty for five of these incidents. The City is writing this Request for Remission because these were inadvertent violations and all possible steps were taken to promptly abate continuing environmental damage. The cause of the overflow for incident # 20183600 was grease related. was located by scanning the area for possible grease producers. Grease educational materials have been distributed in this area in the past. The City quickly cleared the blocked line and laboratory results indicated there was minimal environmental impact associated with this SSO so no site cleanup was required. City personnel identified a restaurant that did not have a grease interceptor installed. A meeting with the owner to discuss requirements to install an interceptor was convened and the owner willingly agreed to install an interceptor which was installed within weeks. The City of Asheboro is currently working to negotiate a contract for professional design services to relocate the source of incident # 201803708 which is sanitary sewer Lift Station # 3 and upgrade its capacity. This contract will be presented at the June City Council meeting. Design of a pump station upgrade will begin immediately. The City applied for a low interest loan with the Division of Water Infrastructure in the fall of 2018 and did not receive funding and has reapplied for April 2019 funding. Other funding sources will be sought if state funding isn't available. This lift station has eight sub basins that all eventually pump to this site. Each sub basin has been investigated to identify inflow/infiltration but no major sources have been identified. Flow meters were utilized in a 2010 flow study in the Lift Station # 4, the site of incident # 201803709 drainage basin which identified several repairs to gravity lines that were completed to greatly decrease the amount of inflow/infiltration in the basin. The City is currently conducting a new flow study which has already eliminated several sections of the basins as potential sources of inflow. All necessary repairs or replacements to the collection system will be completed immediately to ensure optimum operation. The City identified and fixed a major source of inflow that contributed to Lift Station # 6 (Incident #'s 201803710&201803764)in 2016 when we assumed maintenance of a line the NC Zoo was not maintaining. Home of the NC Zoological Park Sanitary Sewer Overflow Request for Remission Case No.DV-2019-0081 May 24, 2019 Page 2 of 2 SSO's from this site had diminished until the extreme wet weather this fall. City telemetry records indicate the Zoo is still a major source of increase flow due to wet weather. The City intends to begin conversations with the Zoo to determine why they release so much sanitary sewer during rain events. The City received almost 37" of rain last fall prior to the December SSO events. An additional 6.4" of rain fell in December. All of this rainfall has resulted in this being one of the wettest years on record, with most of the rainfall occurring after June. Standing water could be seen throughout our entire service area for most of the month. All but one of the SSO's in December were associated with some form of storm water or inflow/infiltration. The City Asheboro has always monitored its collection system to ensure optimum performance. Improvements have been made through the years to minimize SSO's and environmental impacts. However, this has been an abnormal year for weather that has significantly strained the collection system. We received lots of flooding from both Hurricane Florence and Michael and are still identifying damages caused by them. The City's collection system can handle rain events but not the abnormal amount of rain for fall of 2018. For comparison. In spite of the several large S SO's over the past few months, the overall performance of our system is exemplary. The 2018 System Performance reveals that of the more than 1.5 billion gallons of wastewater treated at the City of Asheboro WWTP, less than 0.02% was spilled at the plant or in the collection system. Laboratory personnel sample after every SSO as soon as it is safe to do so. None of the laboratory results from any SSO on these two dates revealed significant environmental, impact. All SSO's are sampled by laboratory personnel and the analysis for all of these events indicated no clean up of the site or streams was required. The City of Asheboro is committed to protecting the environment and improving wastewater collection service to customers. We are working from many angles to address issues that will improve the operation of our collection system. The purchase of six new flow meters will allow staff to be aggressive in locating potential I & I sources. Repair of these sources is usually much easier than finding them. The Capital Improvement Plan provides future resources for studies,repairs and replacements to the wastewater collection and treatment systems. The City of Asheboro requests that the Civil Penalty for these incidents should be remitted based on negligible environmental impacts and the efforts that are being taken to eliminate future events. Please take these efforts into consideration as you deliberate these matters. The City of Asheboro takes pride in being good stewards of the environment and is taking measures to ensure water quality in our community. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. If you have any questions,please contact me at(336) 626-1201 ext. 258. Sincerely, P2r4Aci c;9—arli Michael D. Rhoney, P.E. Water Resources Director cc: Ms. Sherri V. Knight NCDEQ -Division of Water Resources 450 Hanes Mill Rd, Suite 300 Winston-Salem,North Carolina 27105 Home of the NC Zoological Park JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST Case Number: DV=2019-0081 County: Randolph k Assessed Party: City of Asheboro Permit No.: WQCS00025 Amount Assessed: $1,398.58 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 may be 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(Le., 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: $'e7c. wed Po*- Qcrn..dsS 1111 4C,151� STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COUNTY OF RANDOLPH IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT ) WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST ) ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND ) STIPULATION OF FACTS City of Asheboro ) Asheboro Collection System ) ) PERMIT NO. WQCS00025 ) CASE NO. DV-2019-0081 Having been assessed civil penalties totaling$1,398.58 for violation(s) as set forth in the assessment document of the Division of Water'Resources dated April 26,2019,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 $_ ,� k day of 41 a.1 ,20 1 SIGNATURE -y b c 4 .c Lbf0 PO So,. tlo ( 4 4 oro I ,VC 2720'1— `ID-I TELEPHONE 3�G CZ‘- (L a ' C ' • 1Citp of Robeboro Water Resources Division Tel: 336-626-1201 Ext. 258 146 N Church Street PO Box 1106 Asheboro, NC 27204-1106 Fax: 336-626-1218 May 24, 2019 RECEIVED/NCDE61/DWR MAY 3 0 2019 Mr. Steven Lewis PERCS Unit Water Quality Permitting Section Division of Water Resources 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 Re: Request for Remission of Civil Penalties for Case No. DV-2019-0080 Dear Mr. Lewis: The City of Asheboro Water/Sewer Maintenance Department received a call on February 24, 2019 about a manhole overflowing behind 510 Hickory Forest Dr(Incident#201900482). The Water/Sewer Maintenance Department's investigator responded immediately. The Investigator began checking manholes upstream and downstream. He then called a crew to rod the sewer main. The crew arrived and rodded from the downstream manhole to the upstream manhole but were unsuccessful in stopping the overflow because of the obstructions. A bypass pump was set up to pump around the problem area to clean and stop the overflow. Only between 10 and 15%of the estimated overflow reached the stream. While cleaning the line with a rodding machine large amount of panty hose, cloth rags,baby wipes, and rags was found. The rodding continued until enough debris was removed from the line so the porcupines could be used to finish the cleaning. The surrounding sections of the outfall were cleaned to make sure nothing was downstream or upstream and risked stopping up again. City personnel discovered where the panty hose and rags were coming from and visited the company. The company was aware of the issue and is retraining/educating employees, as well as, discussing policies within their company. Employees were being penalize for exceeding quality control numbers and were flushing their inferior products down the toilet. The company polices have been amended to address this issue. In spite of this SSO, the overall performance of our system is exemplary. The 2018 System Performance reveals that of the more than 1.5 billion gallons of wastewater treated at the City of Asheboro WWTP, less than 0.02%was spilled at the plant or in the collection system. Laboratory personnel sample after every SSO as soon as it is safe to do so. None of the laboratory results from any SSO on these two dates revealed significant environmental impact. All SSO's are sampled by laboratory personnel and the analysis for all of these events indicated clean up of the site or streams was minimal. The City of Asheboro is committed to protecting the environment and improving wastewater collection service to customers. We are working from many angles to address issues that will improve the operation of our collection system. The Capital Improvement Plan provides future resources for studies, repairs and replacements to the wastewater collection and treatment systems. Home of the NC Zoological Park • Sanitary Sewer Overflow Request for Remission Case No.DV-2019-0080 May 24,2019 Page 2 of 2 The City of Asheboro requests that the Civil Penalty for this incident should be remitted based on negligible environmental impacts and the effort made to identify the source causing the blockage and prevent future events. Please take these efforts into consideration as you deliberate this matter. The City of Asheboro takes pride in being good stewards of the environment and is taking measures to ensure water quality in our community. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. If you have any questions, please contact me at(336) 626-1201 ext. 258. Sincerely, /21,4143-1014 Michael D. Rhoney, P.E. Water Resources Director cc: Ms. Sherri V. Knight NCDEQ -Division of Water Resources 450 Hanes Mill Rd, Suite 300 Winston-Salem,North Carolina 27105 Home of the NC Zoological Park JUSTIFICATION FOR REMISSION REQUEST Case Number: DV-2019-0080 County: Randolph Assessed Party: City of Asheboro Permit No.: WQCS00025. Amount Assessed: $398.58 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 may be 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 (Le., explain how payment of the civil penalty will prevent you from performing the activities necessary to achieve compliance). EXPLANATION: Set. 9-44%wv-d Z for L e. }-7/, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COUNTY OF RANDOLPH IN THE MATTER OF ASSESSMENT ) WAIVER OF RIGHT TO AN OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST ) ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AND ) STIPULATION OF FACTS City of Asheboro ) Asheboro Collection System ) ) PERMIT NO. WQCS00025 ) CASE NO. DV-2019-0080 Having been assessed civil penalties totaling$398.58 for violation(s)as set forth in the assessment document of the Division of Water Resources dated April 26, 2019,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 Z -IL day of , 20 5 G' 11 I NATURE DDRESS yo A540b&r0 AsNo*01 mac, 2 720t--lr� TELEPHONE