970008_Assessment of Civil Penalties_20180122

Clifton Guy Hutchison
6501 Traphill Rd.
Traphill, NC 28685
01/18/2018
Mrs. Knight
Environmental Program Supervisor
WSRO
Winston-Salem, NC
Dear Mrs. Knight:
NC Department of
Environmental Quality
Received
JAN 2 2 EU�8
p,
Winston-Salem
Regional Office ;'`, t: „
In response to your notice of a violation of G.S. 143-215.1 on my farm in December 2017 1 have
addressed the items you required within your notice. I would like to first give my apologies for the
incident that occurred. It was an absolute honest mistake on my part and I think you'll also realize
that when I explain the circumstances of this incident.
My son, Derek, manages the farm and oversees daily activities. I've been working a public job for a
couple of years now to supplement income and help on the farm when available or needed with
farm operations. On the day of this incident, Derek and our other workers were combining grain
corn and the lagoon pond needed to be pumped. So I decided to do this to help while they were
busy that week with other duties. I proceeded to begin pumping the lagoon pond, I decided to apply
it to the closest field to the farm which is where this spill occurred. I first entered the east side of
the field, when I reached the west side of the field I started turning northward and closed the valve,
as I backed up to make a turn that is when I noticed the valve had malfunctioned, I immediately got
the valve shut and continued spreading the litter. Might I add to this that the litter being spread this
day was thick due to being towards the bottom of the pit thus it piled up with no appearance of any
runoff happening. Also, it was spilled approximately 55ft from the stream when the spill occurred -
we measured the exact distance after receiving your notice to be positive we were as far away as
we had thought. However, there was rainfall the night of the spill which turned out to be more than
anticipated and unfortunately thinned out the litter enough to make it start running off leading to
the entry of the creek.
When Melissa and Rebecca came out to inspect from the complaint call there was a minimal
amount of litter in the water, I believe the elevated numbers from their sample are resulting from
the stock trail issue more so than from the accidental spillage. We have been working diligently with
the Wilkes County Soil & Water division and NRCS to resolve the problem for approximately 3 years.
The amount of spillage in the creek when they visited was no more than what 3-5 cows would
produce in when passing thru the culvert. We attached pictures for your review of what it looked

Mrs. Knight
01/18/2018
Page 2
like at that time. I'm not discounting the issue at hand because I do recognize it is a problem but I
did feel it was important to make you aware of the amount of actual litter in the water at the time
of the visit.
Below are responses to the specific issues you wanted addressed in your letter:
1. Establish a permanent vegetative cover for all land application areas:
At the time of the spill the field was grazed down from cattle; however, the cattle had been
moved because we do not winter them on this field. Each Spring fescue grass grows in
abundance in this field and we add cattle back for grazing. There is ample amount of
vegetation at this time of the year. We have been working with the Wilkes Soil & Water
recently to add a buffer at the stock trail and the creek on the north side --they have
proposed planting trees and other vegetation to work as a buffer. We are currently waiting
on them (soil & water) to finish drawing up the plans for us. However, I can assure you there
will no longer be any litter spread onto this field in the future due to this incident and the
risk of the litter running off into the water source because of the lay of the field. Hopefully
Wilkes soil and water will have this "buffer" plan in place fairly soon.
2. Make repairs to any equipment that contributed to the unpermitted discharge:
We had the faulty valve fixed immediately after the incident to prevent any future issues, at
the time of the incident in question the valve didn't open and close properly, it had stuck for
lack of a better description. This was a minor fix and it works properly now.
3. Procedures for correctly applying animal waste:
See attached sheet for procedures and signatures of those applying animal waste to fields
4. Best Management Practices for stock trail:
The stock trail has been an ongoing issue and potential threat that we have been in contact
with Wilkes soil and water and the NRCS both numerous times to assist us with this
problem. There have been several occasions where the local soil and water has visited the
farm and we've proposed several solutions to the problem but each has been turned down
for approval by Raleigh due to funding or other reasons. We've asked about assistance
building a freestall barn at the dairy to keep the cows on one side of the road, we've asked
about the state building a dry culvert which they (state) have refused to fund.. Also we
suggested building a corral on both sides of the road and letting the cows cross the road

Mrs. Knight
01/18/2018
Page 3
each and they rejected that offer as well because the state doesn't want the traffic flow
interrupted on.Traphill Rd since it is considered a major highway. We've also asked if they
could buy out our dairy permit and we would sell the cattle to eliminate the issue but of
course that was rejected also. We have asked soil and water for any suggestions to
eliminate the threat of the stock trail but nothing has transpired yet unfortunately: Any
suggestions or proposals we've offered we cannot seem to get any funding to assist or the
approval to move forward. If your department can offer any suggestions or assistance on
this matter, we would really appreciate any insight. In the meantime, we will continue
utilizing our gates to the best of our ability'to keep the cattle flow away from the creek as
much as possible. We have 1 exiting the freestall portion of the barn to the trail to keep the
cattle from going down the stock trail during milking hours then we have another gate at
the bottom of stock trail to keep closed once cows have moved back to the field after
milking hours and prevent their re-entry into the stock trail when they aren't walking in for
milking hours. This minimizes the amount of litter in the stock trail and currently is the best
solution to this particular issue.
I hope these responses are satisfactory and address the issues that your department has brought
forth. We realize the impact to stream waters is serious and did not intentionally ever pose a threat
to state waters or cause any environmental risk. I sincerely hope this is enough explanation of how
the incident occurred and what we will do to prevent any future spills to prevent this issue from
being sent any further and the fine being imposed. If you have any suggestions or ideas, you would
like to discuss please feel free to give myself or my son a call anytime and we'll be glad to discuss
with you or someone from your department. I've included our contact numbers below.
Best Regards,
1?��
/Orion Hutchison
Clifton: [phone]
Derek: [phone]
sue_

Procedures for Correctly applying animal waste:
1. Agitate the litter in the lagoon pond
2. Take an Animal Waste Sample collected from lagoon pond and send off for results
3. Take soil samples from fields that the animal waste will be applied to and send off for results
4. Once results are back, Derek will determine the proper amount of litter needed to apply to
each field
5. Inspect spreader truck for possible issues prior to beginning the spreading
6. Pump litter and apply to fields as written down by Derek for proper amounts on each
7. Be aware and identify the proper footage away from any water source on each field
Persons applying animal waste to fields:.
Name:
Clifton G Hutchison
�—DereRk1DY'1N1 chison
Aubrey Billings
Date: