The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) has approved International Tie, LLC’s application for a stormwater discharge permit (NCS000613) under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
Approved in compliance with North Carolina General Statute 143-215.1, the permit authorizes International Tie, LLC to “discharge stormwater associated with industrial activity” from its facility located at 174 Marks Creek Church Road in Hamlet, Richmond County, to an unnamed tributary to Mill Creek, a Class C stream in the Lumber River Basin.
Such discharges, according to the permit, “shall be controlled, limited and monitored as specified in this permit.” The five-year permit goes into effect on July 1, 2024.
The permit will require the permittee to submit a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) to the DEMLR at least 30 days prior to discharge of stormwater beginning.
Additionally, the permittee will be required to conduct routine monitoring of those discharges, evaluating them qualitatively (visually) for discharge characteristics including, but not limited to, color, clarity, solids, oil sheen, erosion at the outfall, etc. as well as quantitatively (analytically) for various parameters as specified in the permit. Analytical test results are compared to the associated benchmark values contained in the permit and any exceedances of the associated benchmark values will trigger tiered response actions to be taken by the permittee.
The stormwater permit was issued following a public hearing that was held on March 18, 2024, at Richmond Community College in Hamlet. The hearing was attended by roughly 60 people and 17 public comments were heard. An additional 56 comments were received via email and postal mail.
The final permit and hearing officer’s report can be viewed here.
The Stormwater Permitting Program develops, plans and implements statewide stormwater control policies, strategies and rules to protect surface waters of North Carolina from the impacts of stormwater pollutants and runoff.