NC0024147_Other Correspondence_20221017

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PO Box 3729 cArms pe* Fax:[phone]
Sanford,NC 27331-3729 - Phone:[phone]
City Of Sanford
Big Buffalo Creek Wastewater Reclamation Facility
October 10, 2022 RECEIVED
O C T 17 2022
Mr. Keyes McGee
Department of Water Quality, PERCS NCDE(Tpw
1617 Mail Service Center RINPDES
Raleigh,NC 27699-1617
RE: Notice of Violation(NOV)Modified to Notice of Non-Compliance (NNC)
For July-December 2021 Wastewater Monitoring Reports
Charah, LLC, IUP 000035
Dear Mr. McGee:
In response to Charah, LLC's appeal and adjudicatory hearing (see attached), and in accordance with
Section 5 of the Enforcement Response Plan (ERP), the City of Sanford agreed to modify the NOV to a Notice
of Non-Compliance(NNC) for the following:
• Molybdenum overages of the IUP and TRC limits during the July—December 2021 monitoring period.
• Data from Charah's self-sampling was not submitted within the correct timeframe (see the "Reporting"
section in the General Conditions of the IUP on Page 8.)
• The mag meters were not verified during the July—December 2021 timeframe as required.
• Three of the four quarterly required molybdenum samples were collected on days (10/27/21, 10/28/21,
10/29/21) there was no hauling/flow to the plant. Similarly, two of the molybdenum resamples were
taken on no flow days (12/1 and 12/3).
• Immediate compliance of issued permit is required upon resuming discharge. A request for permit
modification can be made before resuming discharge to address any concerns with meeting future
compliance.
The issuance of this NNC, along with a reparation fine of$1,000.00 ($500.00 of this fine was paid to the
City of Sanford on May 2, 2022), shall be published in the Sanford Herald's public notice section,placed on the
State's SNC Report, and listed as noncompliant in the pretreatment annual report(PAR).
If there are questions concerning the above information,please feel free to contact me at 919-777-1781.
Sincerely,
"' • 6:1418,---
Scott Siletzky
Water Reclamation Administrator

Moore&VanAllen
July 13,2022 Patar J McGrath Jr.
Attorney at Law
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT DELIVERY T 704331 1081
(Tracking No. 1Z7X10752497331119) F 704378 2081
petermcgrathtarnalaw corn
City Council of the City of Sanford Moore&Van Allen?IIC
do Bonnie Davis,City Clerk 100 North Tryon Street
225 E Weatherspoon Street Su00
Charlotte,t C 2e202-0003
Sanford,NC 27331
Re: Charah, LLC Demand for £lppeal of Hearing Officer's Decision
Dear Ms Davis
This firm represents Charah,LLC("Charah") Charah,pursuant to Section 38-310(2)of the Code of
Ordinances of the City of Sanford (the "Code"), gives notice of its appeal of the Hearing Officer's
Report and Final Decision For the City of Sanford, North Carolina dated July 8, 2022 (the "Final
Decision"), In Re Charah, LLC's appeal from a decision of the City of Sanford to issue a Notice of
Violation for Industrial Permit#000035 As required by Section 38-310(2)of the Code we are filing
this written demand for appeal with the Council by delivery to you. A copy of the Final Decision is
included for your reference.
As contemplated by Section 38-310(2) of the Code, Charah requests a hearing of this appeal As
hwill describe more fullyat such hearing,Charah is dissatisfied with the Final Decision because
Charah
the Findings of Fact set forth in the Final Decision do not comport with the evidence presented at the
adjudicatory hearing on which the Final Decision is based, and because the Conclusions of Law set
forth in the Final Decision are inconsistent and erroneous
We appreciate your assistance Please contact me if you require additional information
Very truly yours,
Moore& Van Allen PLL Aik
Peter J Mc t Jr
Enclosure
cc: Susan C.Patterson(via email&US Mail)
Norman Divers(via email& US Mail)
Henry B. Ward,III (via email)
CHAR2t2G71 Irl(,%I Charlotte,NC
Cha leston SC

HEARING OFFICER'S REPORT AND FINAL DECISION
FOR THE CITY OF SANFORD,NORTH CAROLINA
In Re Charah,LLC's appeal from a decision of the City of Sanford to issue
a Notice of Violation for Industrial Permit#000035
FINAL ORDER
This matter came before the presiding Hearing Officer, Ms Mary Sadler, for an
adjudicatory hearing on May 26, 2022, based on the appeal of the Notice of Violation issued by
the City of Sanford (the "City") to Charah, LLC on November 18. 2021, for Industrial Permit
#000035 regarding the exceedance of molybdenum at the Brick Haven Mine Facility located in
Chatham County, NC. Based upon all the evidence submitted into the record at the hearing,
including receiving the sworn testimony from Ms Sarah Jordan, City of Sanford's Pretreatment
Officer,and Mr Norman Drivers,Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety for Charah,
LLC,and the arguments of counsel for the parties,the Hearing Officer makes the following
Findings of Fact
1. Charah, LLC ("Charah") is an environmental services and byproduct recycling
company based out of Louisville,KY
2 The property at issue is the Brick Haven Mine Facility (the"Facility") located at
the address of 1271 Moncure-Flatwood Road,Moncure,NC 27559 in Chatham County,NC
3 On July 15, 2015, the City of Sanford (the "City") issued Charah an Industrial
Permit ("IUP") #000035 which allows/permits Charah to discharge collected leachate from
permanently stored coal ash waste at the Facility.
4 On June 21, 2021, Charah requested from the City via email a modification to
IUP#000035 for a reduction in the monitonng frequency for the pollutants at the Facility to
be changed from twice per week sampling to once per quarter sampling.Charah's Justification
was that the Facility was capped (Lc, not under the influence of rainwater) so the leachate
concentration stabilized such that a reduction in monitonng was more appropriate
5 The City emailed a draft IUP#000035 to Charah on June 29, 2021 incorporating
the requested monitoring reduction frequency permit modifications for Charah's review The
City's email correspondence also requested that Charah "pay special attention to the limits
page"in addition to a review of permit modifications pertaining to verification of the magnetic
flow meter
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6. The City followed up with an email to Charah on July 6, 2021 inquiring if Charah
had any questions or comments on the draft IUP Charah replied via email on July 7, 2021,
stating that they had no comments on the draft IUP
7 The City emailed Charah the final IUP#000035 on July 21,2021,with an effective
date of August 1,2021.The City's cover letter accompanying the IUP stated that several of
the permit limits were modified from a lb/d monthly average to a daily maximum
concentration. The City also noted the change in the 1UP history page to read as follows-
"Changed limits from Ib/d to mg/L to make comparisons between Offering IUPs more
seamless" The City calculated a daily maximum concentration limit for 8 out of the 21
permitted pollutants of concern that did not already have a daily maximum concentration limit
specified in the permit.The City used the permitted monthly average load for each pollutant
of concern and associated daily maximum flow to back-calculate a daily maximum
concentration The new concentration limit for molybdenum was 0 056 mg/L in lieu of the
previous 0 1341b/d monthly average without a daily maximum concentration restriction The
City's cover letter stated that if Charah found a permit condition(s)unacceptable,then Charah
had the right to request an adjudicatory hearing within 30 days of receipt of the City's letter
8 The City conducted an Enforcement Response Plan ("EPA") required biannual
sampling event on October 18 and 19,2021 The City's sample results for Charah showed that
Charah exceeded the daily maximum concentration permit limits in IUP#000035.
9. Accordingly,the City issued a Notice of Violation(the"NOV")letter to Charah on
November 18, 2021, due to the exceedance of molybdenum The NOV letter included
instructions for Charah to provide a procedure for corrective action to include three resamptes
to avoid Significant Non-Compliance("SNC"),a statement of why the violation occurred,and
the proposed corrective action within 30 days of receipt of the NOV
10 A phone conference was conducted by the parties on November 19, 2021, at the
request of Charah Per the testimony submitted at the hearing, Charah verbally requested a
modification to the IUP The City agreed to consider a modification request
11 Charah emailed the City on January 3,2022, inquiring about the status of the 1UP
modification The City responded that a formal request for a permit modification had not been
submitted to the City for consideration.
12 On January 5,2022,Charah emailed the City requesting a monthly average permit
limit of 0.134 Ib/d for molybdenum.The email from Charah did not provide a specific reason
for the IUP modification request
13. The City responded to Charah via email on January 6, 2022 The City
acknowledged that Charah requested a change to the molybdenum limit that matched the
previous monthly average load limit The City denied Charah's modification request due to a
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lack of justification for the change The City also stated in the email correspondence that the
City's Industrial Allocation Table was limited in the allocation that the City would be able to
provide Charah. The City requested that Charah review their sampling results prior to
submitting a new permit modification request.The City stated that a concentration based limit
was preferred
14 Charah contested the NOV in a letter dated January 14, 2021. The letter from
Charah stated that the City changed the molybdenum limit in July of 2021 without notification.
Charah expressed willingness to work with the City to establish a concentration-based limit
Charah requested that the City waive the NOV and modify the molybdenum permit limit to
newly proposed average and maximum day concentration limits.
15. The City issued a letter to Charah on February 2,2022 that included a Significant
Non-Compliance ("SNC") determination for the July through December 2021 reporting
period.The SNC determination to Charah was based on the following.(i)not submitting self-
sampling reports within the required timeframe as specified in the IUP, (ii)a verification of
the magnetic flow meter was not conducted, and (iii)samples were collected on days that
Charah did not haul to the City's Big Buffalo Wastewater Treatment PIant("WWTP") The
City stated that the sample results were invalid since Charah did not haul wastewater to the
Big Buffalo WWTP on the associated sample dates The City listed the Enforcement Response
Plan("ERP")requirements to impose a fine of$500, publish a notice in the local newspaper,
list the SNC on the State's Report,and list the SNC in the City's Pretreatment Annual Report
16 In March of 2022, Division of Water Resources ("DWR") staff issued a letter
concurring with the City's issuance of the SNC to Charah DWR staff determined that the City
applied proper compliance judgement for the permit limits and conditions of 1UP#000035 and
complied with the City's approved ERP.
17. Charah faxed a letter dated April 6, 2022, requesting its appeal of the NOV at an
adjudicatory hearing
18 The City issued a Notice of Adjudicatory Hearing on April 27,2022. The Notice
outlined the contested issues (i) the change made by the City to the permit limit on
molybdenum discharge from 0.134 Ib/d (the Original Limit) to 0.056 mg/L (the Revised
Limit),and(it)the issuance of the Nonce of Violation issued by the City of Sanford to Charah
alleging an exceedance of the revised molybdenum limit.
19. On March 26,2022,the Hearing Officer,Ms.Mary Sadler,heard Charah's appeal
of the NOV at an adjudicatory hearing pursuant to the City's Code of Ordinances(the"Code")
Section 38-310(1) City staff present at the hearing included Ms Susan Patterson, City
Attorney,Ms.Sarah Jordan,City's Pretreatment Officer,and Mr.Scott Siletzky,City's WWTP
Superintendent Mr.Norman Drivers,Vice President of Ernironmcntal Health and Safety for
Charah,LLC,was present at the hearing on behalf of Charah as well as Mr Peter McGrath,Jr
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with Moore and Van Allen PLLC, counsel for Charah. Outside-counsel Mr. Brady Herman
was also present at the hearing representing the Hearing Office:
Conclusions of Law
1. The City of Sanford, as the Control Authority, had legal authority to modify
1 1UP#000035 per 15A NCAC 02H.0916(c)(6)and City Code,Part III,Chapter 38,Article VII.
The permit was reopened at the request of Charah as allowed by the City's Code Section 38-
311
2 The City failed to review the available Self Monitoring Report data submitted by
Charah to determine if the concentration limits for molybdenum could have been met by
Charah without a compliance schedule
3. Charah had 30 days to review and comment on the modified IUP#000035 per City
Code Section 38-310
4. The City had legal authority to issue a NOV to Charah per City Code Section 38-
225. The NOV was based on data collected by the City as required by the City's approved
Pretreatment Program
5. The City had legal authority to issue a Significant Non-Compliance order to Charah
per City Code Section 38-222.All wastewater samples must be representative of the discharge
per City Code Section 38-341 Industrial samples not discharged to the City's treatment facility
are not legally representative samples.
Based upon all the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is hereby
ORDERED, ADJUDGED,and DECREED that the decision of the City of Sanford's Pretreatment
Coordinator that the level of molybdenum exceeded the permit limit and,therefore, the NOV for
Industrial Permit#000035 along with the fine of$500 is AFFIRMED.
1/•1 4. / Out_
dry E.S dIer,PE,Hearing Officer Date of signature
Associate Vice President,Hazen and Sawyer
NOTE: Pursuant to City's Code Section 38-310(2),if you are dissatisfied with the decision of
the Hearing Officer,an appeal may be taken to the Sanford City Council by filing a written
demand within ten (10)days after the filing of the decision with the City,or the delivery of
the written decision to the parties entitled to a written copy,whichever is later.
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