The Department of Environmental Quality recently issued two draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for CPI USA North Carolina, LLC to discharge wastewater and stormwater from its Southport Power Plant, located at 1281 Powerhouse Drive in Southport.
The facility discharges treated wastewater and stormwater to the Atlantic Ocean below the Cape Fear River via the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant’s effluent channel. The wastewater permit was reclassified as a major NPDES permit after a reevaluation of current activities at the facility.
On Nov. 21, 2019, DEQ staff held a public hearing at Brunswick Community College to gather comments from the public on the two permits. Out of the 102 people who attended the hearing, 21 people provided oral comments and 33 people provided written comments.
Comments from the public on the draft NPDES wastewater and stormwater permits were reviewed and taken into consideration. In response to public input, the final NPDES wastewater permit excludes the discharge of bottom ash transport water in the outfall and increases the monitoring frequency for multiple compounds. The final NPDES stormwater permit incorporates additional monitoring requirements and the development of a hurricane preparedness plan, among other updates.
To see the final permits, hearing officer’s reports and other related documents, go to the bottom of the public notice page on the DEQ website.
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