WQCS00025_Remission (Request)_20190524 (2)

Citp of Zfobe6oro
Water Resources Division
146 N Church Street
PO Sox 1106
Asheboro, NC 27204-1106
May 24, 2019
Mr. Steven Lewis
PERCS Unit
Division of Water Resources
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
Tel: [phone] Ext. 258
Fax: [phone]
Re: Request for Remission of Civil Penalties for Case No. DV-2019-0081
Dear Mr. Lewis:
VED/NCt)EQ/DWR
Nk A 0 201E
Water Quality
Permitting Section
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 SSO'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 [phone] ext. 258.
Sincerely,
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 RENIISSION REQUEST
Case Number: DV-2019-0081
Assessed Party: City of Asheboro
Permit No.: WQCS00025
County: Randolph
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 (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:

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.
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