Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutConsent Order Nos. EPD-WQ-3226 and EPD-WQ-3227 Augusta Richmond GA DOCUMENT NAME: Cs>n ':)Q_fY'" 0 .d~v NOS ' ~ P1J-W Gl - 3?-?'<O CL'('\C\ S?D- wO-~'d-<L7 DOCUMENT TYPE: YEAR: I qq u BOX NUMBER: I FILE NUMBER: J J- :; q:J- NUMBER OF PAGES: I :l Georgia Department of Natural Resources 205 Butler Street, S.E., East Floyd Tower, Atlanta', Georgia 30334 Lonice C. Barrett, Commissioner Harold F, Reheis, Director David Word, Assistant Director Environmental Protection Division 404/656-4713 January 25, 1996 Honorable Larry E. Sconyers Mayor of Augusta-Richmond County Commission Municipal Building, Room 806 Augusta, Georgia 30911 RE: Consent Order Nos. EPD-WQ-3226 and EPD-WQ-3227 Dear Mayor Sconyers: We have received the signed referenced Consent Orders. Enclosed are copies of the executed Consent Orders. The City of Augusta will be expected to meet all of the conditions of the Orders. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated. Sincerely, 4~~ Harold F. Reheis Director HFR/lape Enclosures cc: Mr. Charles T. Dillard City Administrator f .. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES STATE OF GEORGIA IN RE: City of Augusta Combined Sewer Overflows ORDER NO. EPD-WQ-3226 CONSENT ORDER WHEREAS, the City of Augusta (City) owns and operates a combined sewer collection system (System) that contains one or more Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs); and WHEREAS, the City was issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit No. GA0036889 (NPDES Permit) for the CSOs by the Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (Director, EPD) on March 31, 1992; and WHEREAS, the EPD issued Administrative Order No. EPD-WQ-1865 (Administrative Order) on March 31, 1992 requiring compliance with the NPDES Permit by December 31,' 1995; and WHEREAS, in a May 3, 1995 letter the City indicated that it would not be able to complete the construction projects necessary to eliminate the Pearl Avenue CSO and the Giass FaclOry Avenue CSO; and WHEREAS, EPD is concerned about the delay in construction completion of the Pearl Avenue CSO and the Glass Factory CSO; and WHEREAS, on June 9 and October 1 1, 1995 meetings were held between the EPD and the City to discuss completion of theCSO projects; and WHEREAS, failure of the City to comply with the Administrative Order is a violation of Section 12.5-29 (al of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Code) which makes it unlawful to use any waters of the State to dispose of sewage or other wastes, except to comply with the Code and all rules, regulations, orders, and permits established under the Code; and WHEREAS, Section 12-5-29.1 of the Code states that CSO Construction shall be substantially complete and operational by December 31, 1995; and WHEREAS, Section 12-5-52(a) of the Code specifies that any person violating the Code or any permit condition or limitation established pursuant to the Code shall be liable to the State of Georgia for a civil penalty not to exceed $50,000 per day of violation. NOW, THEREFORE, the Director ORDERS and the City AGREES (as follows: 1. The City shall pay a stipulated penalty in accordance with the following schedule for the Pearl Avenue and Glass Factory CSOs for each day beyond December 31, 1995 construction is not l completed on the CSOs. a. The City shall pay a stipulated penalty of $3,500 per CSO for each month or portion thereof beyond December 31, 1995 that construction is not completed on the CSOs. This penalty shall be in effect until December 31, 1996. b. For the period beginning January 1, 1997 and ending June 30, 1997 the City shall pay a stipulated penalty of $6,500 per CSO for each month or portion thereof that construction is not completed. c. For the period beginning July 1, 1997 and ending when construction of the CSO projects has been completed, the City shall pay a stipulated penalty of $13,000 per CSO for each month or portion thereof that construction is not completed. 2. Payments resulting from the Conditions above shall be made monthly to the EPD no later than the 15th day of the month following the month in which the violation occurs. This Order does not waive the EPD's power to take further enforcement action, or imply that the EPD will take such action, if the City fails to (1) meet the NPDES Permit I limits if the City does not fully satisfy the conditions of the Administrative Order, or (2) fully comply with other relevant requirements. This Order is not a finding, adjudication of, or evidence of, a violation of any State law by the City nor does the City by its consent agree to any violations of State laws or admit any liability to any third party or parties. This Order shall be terminated upon completion of construction of all CSO projects and final payment of all appropriate stipulated penalties. This Order does not relieve the City of any obligations or requirements of the NPDES Permit or Administrative Order. This Order is final and effective immediately, and shall not be appealable, and the City waives any hearing on the terms and conditions. Januarv It is so ORDERED, CONSENTED and AGREED to this 25th day of , 1996. ~: "-f'\ni\ . ;...... \; . .')j ~ ---,_,_,' \, ,- . ~" \ 1 " 'I 1\'- ~. ; '. '.' ... '.... \..~..../ \. v \._~;:""""~, ....-...." ,.1 HAROLD F. REHEIS Director CITY OF AUGUSTA By: Ch~L~~ Title:Ci ty Administrator Date: January 2, 1996 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES STATE OF GEORGIA IN RE: City of Augusta J. B. Messerly Water Pollution Control Plant ORDER NO. EPD-WQ-3227 CONSENT ORDER WHEREAS, the - City of Augusta (City) was issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Permit No. GA0020087 (Permit) by the Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (Director, EPD) for its J. B. Messerly wastewater treatment facility (Facility); and WHEREAS, the Permit authorizes the Facility to discharge treated wastewater according to effluent limitations, monitoring requirements, and other conditions set forth in the Permit;. and WHEREAS, Administrative Order No. EPD-WQ-1991 (Administrative Order) was issued to the City on June 23, 1993, to establish a schedule for achieving compliance with the chemical specific limits contained in the Permit; and ) WHEREAS, Condition 2.g of the Administrative Order requires the City to attain compliance with the chemical specific limits in the Permit by June 23, 1996; and WHEREAS, in a -May 11, 1994 letter, the City notified the EPD that it intended to achieve compliance with the Permit by adding a constructed wetlands system for nitrogen removal and effluent polishing; and WHEREAS, the City, in a May 3, 1995 letter, requested that the compliance schedule in the Administrative Order be amended to provide time for construction of the wetlands system; and WHEREAS, Sections 391-3-6-.08 and .09 of the EPD's Rules and Regulations for Water Quality Control (Rules) establish the requirements for development and administration of industrial pretreatment programs in accordance with 40 CFR Part 403; and WHEREAS, Section 391-3-6-.09(3)(f) requires -the City to develop a program submission which includes the information set forth in 40 CFR Part 403.9(b) and 403.8(f); and WHEREAS, 40 CFR Part 403.8(f) requires the City to develop local limits to control the discharges from industrial users; and WHEREAS, the City has not proceeded with developing the local limits due to Questioning the 1988 and 1993 Butler Creek stream flow determinations; and WHEREAS, Section 391-3-6-.06 ofthe Rules establishes the requirement that an effluent limit for any chemical constituent exceeding the instream concentration by fifty percent (50%) or more of the instream standard will be included J in the Permit; and WHEREAS, aquatic biomonitoring of the Facility's effluent, conducted by EPD, and summarized in a December 1992 report, demonstrated the existence of chronic toxicity; and WHEREAS, based on a review of the Discharge Monitoring Reports for July 1993 through July 1995, the Facility's effluent is exceeding the instream ,concentration by greater than fifty percent for several parameters; and WHEREAS, the EPD must modify the Permit to contain chemical specific effluent limits for these parameters; and WHEREAS, the City will be unable to comply with the chemical specific effluent limits in the Permit; and WHEREAS, on October 11, 1995, a meeting was held between the EPD and the City to discuss the problems affecting permit compliance and to establish a schedule for attaining compliance; and WHEREAS, Section 12-5-29(a) of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Code) makes it unlawful to use any waters of the State to dispose of sewage or other wastes, except to comply with the Code and all rules, regulations, orders and permits established under the Code; and WHEREAS, Section 12-5-52(a) of the Code specifies that any person violating the Code or any permit condition or limitation established pursuant to the Code shall be liable to the State of Georgia for a civil penalty not to exceed $50,000 per day of violation; and WHEREAS, the City, in an effort to cooperate with the EPD and comply with the Code, agrees to comply with this Order. NOW, THEREFORE, the Director hereby ORDERS and the City AGREES as follows: .' 1. Attain compliance with the following limitations and monitoring requirements, beginning on the effective date of this Order: Discharae limitations (ma!ll Measurement Sample Sample Parameter Monthly Avg. Weekly Ava, Freauency Tyoe Location Flow-m3/Day (MGD) 174,488 218,016 Daily Continuous Effluent (46.1 ) (57.6) Recording Total Suspended 30 (5243) 45(6551) Five/Week Composite Influent and . Solids, mg/1 Effluent Biochemical Oxygen 30 (5243) 45(6551) Five/Week Composite Influent and Demand (5-Day), mg/I Effluent Fecal Coliform 200/100 ml 400/100 ml Three/Week Grab Effluent Bacteria Ammonia as N, mg/1 17.4 (3041) 26.1 (3799) TwolYear Composite Effluent Total Residual Daily Grab Effluent chlorine, mg/1 Copper One/Month Composite Effluent Cyanide One/Month Grab Effluent Mercury One/Month Composite Effluent The pH shall not be less than 6.0 ~tandard units nor greater than 9.0 standard units and shall be monitored on the final effluent by a grab sample daily. The minimum effluent Dissolved Oxygen shall not be less than 2.0 mg/l and shall be monitored on the final effluent by a grab sample daily. 2. The City shall achieve compliance with the final effluent limitations specified in the Permit through the construction of a wetland system in accordance with the following schedule: a) Begin construction of Phase I of, the wetland system (two wetland cell pilot study) by May 1, 1996; .' b) Submit a progress report to EPD by December 1, 1996, providing a status on completing construction of Phase I; .. Complete construction of Phase I by August 1, 1997; Submit a progress report to EPD by May 1, 1998, describing any noted problems and including an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Phase I System; Submit a progress report to EPD by February 1, 1999, providing a status on completing construction of the wetland system and the results of the performance evaluation of Phase I; Begin construction of Phase II of the wetland system (the remaining wetland cells) by October 1, 1999; Submit a progress report to EPD by April 1, 2000, providing a status on completing construction of Phase II of the wetland system; h) Complete construction of Phase II by October 1, 2000; i) Attain compliance with the final effluent limitations in the NPDES Permit for the wetlands system by January 1, 2001. 3. Pay to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources $15,000 per month for each month that milestone schedules in No.2 above (a,e, and f) are not met. In the event the final construction milestone schedule date of c) d) e) f) g) October 1, 2000 is not met, the City will pay $20,000 per month until compliance is achieved. A check for the penalty amount shall be submitted to EPD no later than the 15th day of the following month. 4. The City shall develop two sets of local limits to be used i~ controlling industrial user discharges. The first set of limits shall be based on past .' demonstrated performance of existing permitted industries or on applicable categorical standards, whichever are more stringent. The second set of limits shall be technically-based and shall be determined using data relevant to the discharge to Butler Creek upon completion of the wetland system. The two sets of proposed limits, including the rationales used to calculate the limits, shall be submitted for EPD review within 90 days of the execution date of the Order. Within 90 days of receiving approval by the EPD, the City must complete adoption of the local limits into the City's sewer use ordinance and incorporation of the limits into the industrial user discharge permits. 5. The City shall conduct two definitive Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) tests within a calendar quarter. Two species must be used in the first test. The tests shall be conducted in accordance with the EPD guidance entitled "Guidance for Conducting Chronic WET Tests in Fulfillment of Georgia NPDES Permit Requirements, August 1994." The results of the WET tests shall be summarized in a report form, to be submitted for EPD review within 150 days of the execution date of the Order. In the event a WET test identifies the presence of toxicity, the EPD shall require the City to develop a Toxicity Reduction Evaluation Plan which will be incorporated as part of this Order. This Order does not waive the EPD's power to take further enforcement action, or imply that the EPD'will not take such action, if the City fails to (1) meet the Permit limits if the City does not fully satisfy the conditions of the Order, or (2) fully comply with other relevant requirements. This Order is not a finding, adjudication of, or evidence of, a violation of any State law by the City nor does the City by its consent agree to any violations of State laws nor admit any liability to any third party or parties. This Order supersedes Administrative Order No. EPD:'WQ-1991. This Order is final and effective immediately, and shall not be appealable, and the City waives any hearing on its terms and conditions. It is so ORDERED, CONSENTED and AGREED TO this 25th day of January ,1996 \ L--i: :'~\_\ ~-J\JJtD ;}.. \. V" ',;' ."-. '-.) \ ,... v HAROLD F. REHEIS Director CITY OF AUGUSTA BY: 6/u-L/ ,(;74/ TITLE: City Administrator DATE: January 2, 1996 '?