960067_Permit Denial_20240214

ROY COOPER
Governor
ELIZABETH S. BISER
Secretary
RICHARD E. ROGERS, JR
Director
B & B Partnership
604 Benton Pond Rd
Fremont NC 27830
Dear B&B Partnership:
NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
February 14, 2024
Subject: Permit Application Denial Letter
White Oaks Farm, Inc.
Wayne County
The Animal Feeding Operations Program of the Division of Water Resources (Division) has
completed a preliminary review of your response (Response) to the Division's November 29, 2023
Notice of Violation and Notice of Intent to Enforce (November 2023 NOV/NOI).
Tn your Response ynµ PQV tlhe Tlizri�inn to approve the permit applyCatinn ynuw cu�bmitiPd in 7n77
We received your initial application June 29, 2022, and received additional information on June
30, July 27, August 4, and August 23, 2022. On October 5, 2022, the Division sent a second
information request seeking additional information on several items, including clarification
regarding your plans for a new digester. You responded to this request on October 18, 2022.
On January 23, 2023, you met with staff from the Division and the Department. At that meeting,
you indicated that it was your intention to operate the digester system on 100% animal mortality.
The Division reviewed the application materials and determined that the application materials were
not consistent with that intended mode of operation. Accordingly, the Division sent an additional
information request on February 2, 2023, requesting that you "clarify in writing the
system/operation design for which you are requesting permit coverage." To date, the Division has
not received a written response to that request.
In your Response to the November 2023 NOV/NOI, you ask the Division to process your 2022
application in accordance with NCGS 143-215.1 OC. In your request you again confirm that you
cannot secure a contract for hogs.
In accordance with your request, the Division hereby DENIES your permit application. Permits
under NCGS 143-215.10C are for animal waste management systems. As DWR currently
understands your plans, you do not intend to operate your digester using animal waste; instead,
you seek to operate your digester including animal mortality and other meat processing waste
byproducts. Therefore, your plans do not fall within the types of permits authorized by NCGS
143-215.1 OC and the Division thus DENIES your request.
North Carolina Department of En-irironmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
512 North Salisbury Street 1 1636 Mail Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1636
f
919.707.9129

B&B Partnership
AW1960067
Permit Application Denial Letter
February 14, 2024
Page 2 of 3
The following measures could be taken to make the application approvable:
• If you intend to pursue a new digester operation with feedstocks including, but not limited
to, mortality, food waste, or off -site animal waste with land application of effluent, you
could submit an application for an industrial non -discharge permit with plans and a
schedule for bringing online a new digester structure and for closing out the existing
digester structure and the two nitrification/denitrification basins.
• You could submit an application for a zero -animal permit with a facility closure plan, to
include a schedule and timeline for steps to be completed, and also addressing closure of
all the structures on the western side of the facility. Such permit would not allow for the
addition of any new waste to the existing digester system.
Regardless of which of the above paths you choose to pursue, you remain currently obligated to
conduct a groundwater investigation in accordance with 15A NCAC 2L .0106 and to take any
corrective actions necessary to address violations of groundwater standards (November 2023
NOV/NOI
Right of Persons Aggrieved to File a Contested Case. Pursuant to NCGS 143-215.1(e), a permit
applicant, a permittee, or third party aggrieved by the Division's decision on a permit application
may commence a contested case by filing a petition under G.S. 150B-23 within 30 days after the
Division notifies the applicant or permittee of its decision. If the permit applicant, the permittee,
or third party does not file a petition within the required time, the Division's decision is final and
is not subject to review.
General Filing Instructions: A petition for contested case hearing must be in the form of a
written petition, conforming to NCGS 15013-23, and filed with the Office of Administrative
Hearings, 1711 New Hope Church Road, Raleigh NC, 27609, along with a fee in an amount
provided in NCGS 15013-23.2. A petition for contested case hearing form may be obtained upon
request from the Office of Administrative Hearings or on its website at
https://www.oah.nc.gov/hearings-division/filing/hearing-forms. Additional specific instructions
for filing a petition are set forth at 26 NCAC Chapter 03.
Service Instructions: A party filing a contested case is required to serve a copy of the petition, by
any means authorized under 26 NCAC 03 .0102, on the process agent for the Department of
Environmental Quality:
William F. Lane, General Counsel
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
1601 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1601
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, I Division of Water Resources
E
Q 512 North Salisbury Street 11636 Main Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1636
NOP7F'CAROLNW J�
� 919.707,9129

B&B Partnership
AW1960067
Permit Application Denial Letter
February 14, 2024
Page 3 of 3
If the parry filing the petition is a person aggrieved other than the permittee or permit applicant,
the party must also serve the permittee in accordance with NCGS 15013-23(a).
Be aware that other rules or laws may apply to the filing of a petition for a contested case.
Additional information is available at https://www.oah.nc.iov/hearinvs-division/hearin,-,
process/filini-,-contested-cas(. Please contact the Office of Administrative Hearings at (984) 236-
1850 with all questions regarding the filing fee and/or the details of the filing process.
For questions related to permit application processes for any of the above routes, including
permitting information in general, please contact Michael Pjetraj at [e-mail].
For questions regarding the required groundwater investigation and corrective action please
contact David May, at [e-mail] or [phone].
Sincerely,
Richard E. Rogers, .1It., Director
Division of Water Resktilrces
��� North Carolina Department of Envirounsental Quality- 1 Division of Water Resources
e:!we:f PW 512 North Salisbury Street 1 1636 Mail Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1636
NOiTH'"a 919.707.9129
oapmment or emMmnenai ��