North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Environmental Management Commission
Public Notice
Special Order by Consent for
City of High Point – Eastside Wastewater Treatment Plant
Jamestown, Guilford County
City of High Point – Eastside Wastewater Treatment operates a wastewater treatment plant with a natural gas/No. 2 fuel oil-fired fluidized bed sewage sludge incinerator located at 5898 Riverdale Drive in Jamestown, Guilford County, North Carolina. The facility previously operated under Title V Air Quality Permit No. 08074T15, which was issued on March 8, 2021 and had an expiration date of November 30, 2021. Specific Condition 3.K of the facility’s Air Quality Permit stated that, “[p]ermit expiration terminates the facility's right to operate unless a complete 15A NCAC 02Q .0500 renewal application is submitted at least six months before the date of permit expiration.” The City of High Point did not submit a permit renewal application until October 25, 2021, less than two month prior to permit expiration.
On December 13, 2021, the Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) issued a Notice of Violation to the City of High Point for operating the facility with an expired permit in violation of 15A NCAC 02Q .0101. The City of High Point has agreed to a Special Order by Consent (SOC) with the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) to allow the facility to continue to operate while DAQ is processing its air permit renewal application.
Per the terms of the SOC, the company must comply with all terms and conditions of Air Quality Permit No. 08074T15, except that the facility’s sewage sludge incinerator must comply with revised parametric operating limits that were established during performance testing on September 21-22, 2021. The SOC includes an upfront penalty and stipulated penalties for failure to comply with any terms or conditions specified in Air Quality Permit No. 08074T15 or the SOC. The SOC will expire upon issuance of a renewed Air Quality permit, or on December 31, 2022, whichever comes first.
This proposed SOC may be viewed on the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) website: http://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/air-quality/air-quality-enforcement/special-orders-by-consent
A copy of the proposed SOC may also be viewed at the following locations and additional information concerning the proposed SOC may be obtained by contacting:
Ray Stewart, Regional Air Quality Supervisor
NC DEQ – Winston-Salem Regional Office
450 West Hanes Mill Road, Suite 300
Winston Salem, North Carolina 27105
Phone: 336-776-9637
or
Steve Hall, Technical Service Section Chief
NC DEQ-DAQ Raleigh Central Office
217 West Jones Street
1641 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1641
Phone 919-707-8404
Interested persons are invited to review the proposed SOC and to submit written comments by email to daq.publiccomments@ncdenr.gov with “City of High Point SOC” in the subject line or by mail to one of the above addresses.
Any person requesting a public hearing regarding the proposed SOC should submit a written request with a statement supporting the need for such a hearing. The request for hearing should be sent to the DAQ at one of the two above address or at the above email address.
All public comments and requests for hearing must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, July 11, 2022. The Director of the DAQ shall take final action on behalf of the EMC on Consent Orders within 60 days of the initial public notice.