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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNCS000151_NOV_20190829 STATE.y RAY COOPER Governor MICHAEL S.REGAN Scuctar}- S.DANIEL SMITH NORTH CARD[-IIVA Director Environmental Quality August 28, 2019 CERTIFIED MAIL 7016 3560 0000 4428 6147 RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Arauco Panels USA LLC Attn. Jeff McMillian, Owner 985 Corinth Road Moncure, NC 27559 Subject: NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NOV-2019-PC-0598) Arauco Panels USA, LLC NPDES Individual Industrial Stormwater Permit No. NCS000151 Chatham County Dear Mr. McMillian, On May 14, 2019,Alaina Morman and Lauren Garcia from the Raleigh Central Office of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR), conducted a compliance inspection for the Arauco Panels USA, LLC facility located at 985 Corinth Road, in Chatham County, North Carolina. For your reference, a copy of the inspection report issued by DEMLR is enclosed with this Notice. The subject facility is covered by NPDES Individual Industrial Stormwater Permit NCS000151. Permit coverage authorizes the discharge of stormwater from the facility to receiving waters designated as Shaddox Creek, a class WS-1V stream in the Cape Fear River Basin. As a result of the compliance inspection, the following permit violations are noted: 1) Part 11,Section A.9:Stormwater Pollutiog Prevention Plan (SWPPP) A SWPPP was not available onsite; however, a Spill Prevention and Response Plan (SPRP), dated January 7, 2011, with a few administrative updates in 2012, was provided.When prompted, it was stated that the documents provided were the only ones available. It should be noted that environmental staff were away at a conference.A current SWPPP was emailed on 5/24/2019, updated to the day. V` Nartii Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I flivision of Energy.Mineral and Lend RinoUrCfS 512 North 5allsbury Street I I612 tilall Service Center i Raleigh.North Carolina 21699 1612 y., a1g.70 .92UU 2) Part 11,Section A. 2.b: Secondary Containment_Requirements and Records Secondary containment is required for: bulk storage of liquid materials; storage in any amount of Section 313 of Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) water priority chemicals; and storage in any amount of hazardous substances to prevent leaks and spills from contaminating stormwater runoff. During the site visit, totes and drums were located at the northern exterior of the particle board mill. Not all drums were observed to be stored in proper secondary containment. 3) Part 11,Section A.4: Preventative Maintenance and Good HousekegRing_ErQgram The facility is required to develop and implement a good housekeeping and preventative maintenance program, which includes conducting twice-annual facility and stormwater system inspections.The housekeeping and preventative maintenance procedures outlined in the SWPPP have not been implemented,which has led to a mass accumulation of wood product in the two stormwater basins present at the facility. Site conditions observed during the inspection were unacceptable. 4) Part 11,Section B.page 6 and 7:Tier One Exceedances of benchmark values require the permittee to increase monitoring, increase management actions, increase record keeping, and/or install stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) in a tiered program. Between 2009 and 2019, the facility has had benchmark exceedances of one or more monitoring parameters during each monitoring event.The most concerning exceedances have been from BOD, COD,TKN, Total Nitrogen, and TSS. For example,the benchmark for COD is 120 mg/I; COD samples between 2009 and 2019 have measured between 140 mg/1 and 2,800 mg/I at both outfalls. The facility is required to conduct a stormwater management inspection within two weeks of receiving the sampling results.The inspection includes an investigation of the causes of benchmark exceedances. Causes are then expected to be addressed and improvements implemented.The facility was unable to provide records of improvements past 2011. The facility is required to record each instance of a Tier I response in the SWPPP.The record should include the date and value of the benchmark exceedance, the inspection date, the personnel conducting the inspection, the selected actions and the date those selected actions were implemented. There were no records associated with Tier I events in the current SWPPP. S) Part 11.Section B.page 7:Tier Two After a second consecutive benchmark exceedance of any specific parameter, the facility enters the Tier II response plan.A Tier 11 response involves another investigation, improvements, and the institution of monthly monitoring. Since 2009, the facility has had benchmark exceedances of one or more monitoring parameters during each monitoring event.The facility should have taken part in monthly monitoring since at least 2010. The facility is required to maintain a record of Tier 11 responses in the SWPPP.There were no accompanying records present in the current SWPPP. If sampling results for the permit monitoring periods exceed the benchmark values for any specific parameter at any specific outfall for more than four occasions, the permittee shall notify Division Regional Office Staff within 30 days of the receipt of the fourth analytical results.The Division of Water Resources was allegedly notified of the exceedances as an addendum to an application in 2016.This was the only known attempt at a notification. The current permit term began in 2009. Required Response: You are directed to respond to this office, in writing,within 30 calendar days from the receipt of this notice.Your response shall include, at minimum: 1) A reasonable explanation as to why the aforementioned violations occurred. 2) A detailed account of all response actions taken to address the aforementioned violations,including but not limited to: a. Efforts to implement housekeeping and preventative maintenance procedures; b. Efforts to implement Tier One and Tier Two procedures; and c. Efforts to address the causes of benchmark exceedances. Additionally,the existing inspection forms need to be updated to include the stormwater inspection criteria detailed in the SWPPP, in addition to the language already included in the forms,where applicable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Your above-mentioned response to this correspondence will be considered in any enforcement proceedings. This office requires that the violations,as detailed above,be properly resolved.These violations and any future violations are subject to a civil penalty assessment of up to$25,000 per day for each violation. Should you have any questions regarding these matters, please contact Lauren Garcia at (919) 707-3648 or lauren.garcia@ncdenr.gov. Sincerely, William H. Denton, IV, PE Regional Engineering Supervisor Division of Energy, Mineral,and Land Resources North Carolina Dept. of Environmental Quality Enclosure: May 14, 2019 Inspection Report cc: Alaina Morman, Environmental Specialist alaina.mormanoncdenr.gov Annette Lucas, Stormwater Program Supervisor annette.lucasO(,,ncdenr.gov Thad Valentine, Environmental Senior Specialist thad.valentine r mcdenneov Bethany Georgoulias, Environmental Engineer bethany.georgouliasawncdenr.gov Toby Vinson, Section Chief toby.vinson(c-bncdenr.aov Bill Denton, Engineering Regional Supervisor bill.denton@ncdenr.yov Rick Bolich, Assistant Regional Supervisor Rick.Bolich a Tncdenr.gov Ray Milosh, Hydrogeologist Ray.Milosh(r�ncdenr.gov