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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-16-1993 - VII-C 1 ORANGE C O U N T Y BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 16, 1993 Action Agenda Item # Vjx-C.. SUBJECT: Northern Human Services Center Waste Treatment System DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: Yes X No ATTACHMENT(S) : INFORMATION CONTACT: County Engineer Ext. 2300 Report Site Plan (under separate cover) TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough -732-8181 Durham -688-7331 Mebane -227-2031 Chapel Hill -967-9251/968-4501 PURPOSE: To report to the BOCC information related to status of problems encountered at Northern Human Services facility' s waste treatment system, to provide alternative solutions and to provide costs for one feasible long-term solution requiring expenditure of existing CIP funds. BACKGROUND: The County owns and operates a facility in Cedar Grove, known as the Northern Human Services Center, which houses County Recreation and Parks programs and other non-departmental human services including day care, Head Start, and miscellaneous programs serving the elderly. The facility was constructed in 1950 and served as the Cedar Grove school until its closing in the mid- to late 1960 ' s. Ownership was transferred from the Orange County School system to Orange County in 1980 and was first occupied under County control in 1981. In late October of 1993, County staff were evaluating the maintenance and repair needs of this facility in conjunction with developing CIP funding priorities. At that time, it was discovered that the facility was being provided sewer service by means of a sand filter treatment system which was discharging low quality waste effluent to the east fork of the Eno River. Further investigation determined that the system was not permitted, in accordance with state regulation, by DEM. DEM was made aware of this situation by County staff. DEM probably will be issuing a Notice of Violation (NOV) citation to the County for operating a non-permitted discharging waste treatment system. County staff has begun a process to implement a short-term and temporary strategy designed to bring the system into immediate regulatory compliance by eliminating discharge from the system. The discharge to the Eno will be eliminated by plugging the discharge line in the existing septic tank, then pumping out the septic tank and transporting the waste to Efland where it will be discharged into the Efland sewer system. 4: 2 County staff have also developed a preliminary design for an on-site non-discharging ground absorption waste treatment system as an alternative to permanently closing the facility or acquiring and developing an off-site treatment capability. The estimated cost of implementing on-site treatment is approximately $35,000 . The costs of closing the facility or developing off-site waste treatment are unknown. RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends that the Board receive the report and determine if it wishes to authorize the expenditure of budgeted and available capital improvement funds to develop the on-site waste treatment capacity. 3 MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners John Link, County Manager FROM: Paul Thames, County Engineer DATE: November 11, 1993 SUBJECT: Waste treatment system at Northern facility As you may be aware, County staff recently began the process of evaluating CIP projects needed at the Northern facility at Cedar Grove (formerly the Cedar Grove school) . The evaluation process involved assessing the condition and maintenance requirements of the facility' s entire physical plant as necessary to determine the cost effectiveness of any essential or desirable improvement in respect to the overall life expectancy of the facility. One area analyzed was the viability and life expectancy of the existing waste treatment system which, as the facility' s original treatment system, dates back to 1950. On October 27, during the process of examining the waste system, staff determined that the system consisted of simple septic tank and sand filter units with an effluent line discharging to a tributary of the east fork of Eno River just above Lake Orange. It was immediately obvious that a discharging sand filter system was not an ideal treatment system for this location for at least two reasons: 1) sand filters provide relatively low quality treatment and 2 ) this particular system discharges into the upper Eno River basin, recently re-classified by the state as a WS II watershed. As a consequence of staff ' s examination of the waste system, it began the process of planning system modifications necessary to eliminate the discharge. On October 28, staff contacted the NC Division of Environmental Management (DEM) , the state permitting agency for discharging waste treatment systems, to determine when the facility would be required to renew its operating permit. Staff was aware that DEM' s recent policy has been to eliminate large discharging sand filters by requiring a level of effluent quality not attainable by sand filter systems. Staff assumed that the Northern system would not be re-permitted in a discharging configuration and would have to be converted to non- discharge by its re-permitting date, at the latest. During the conversation between County and DEM staff, it was determined that the Northern facility' s waste treatment system was not currently permitted, nor had it ever been permitted in accordance with DEM regulations. It is unclear as to why a DEM permit for the system was not obtained. However, it is certain the regulatory agency having 4 jurisdiction over this system during the time of its construction was the State Board of Health. It is probable that the Board of Health did approve the system design and issue the initial operating permit. In the late 1960 ' s, regulatory authority (as well as information related to system permits, locations, etc. ) over discharging systems passed from the Board of Health to the NC Division of Water and Air Quality, the agency which eventually evolved into DEM. During this same time period, Cedar Grove School was closed permanently as a school. Ownership of the facility passed from the school system to the County in 1980, but it remained unoccupied until 1981 when a County Recreation and Parks Department presence was established in the building. As the building and the treatment system were not operational during the transfer of permitting jurisdiction from the Board of Health to Water and Air Quality, it is possible that the system' s records were either discarded or destroyed. It appears that when the building was reopened and the waste treatment system was reactivated, County personnel involved in the process did not realize that the County would be required to obtain a new operating permit. Since that time, County staff operating the facility have been unaware that the treatment system required a discharge permit. DEM staff has indicated that DEM commonly encounters situations where a local government owns and operates an old building served by a discharging waste treatment system that has never been issued a DEM regulated permit. However, DEM has indicated that it pursues all inadvertent and willful violations of discharge regulations with equal intensity. Consequently, a DEM field inspector visited the Northern facility on November 5 in the company of a County Environmental Health official and the County Engineer. The DEM inspector indicated that Orange County can expect to be cited with a Notice of Violation (NOV) by November 29 . The NOV will require a response from the County, which has the option of either contesting or accepting the citation. In either case, the County will have to reach an agreement with DEM as to how the system is to be brought into regulatory compliance. The standard format for such an agreement is through a process which DEM terms a Special Order of Consent (SOC) . The basic purpose of the SOC is to permit DEM to temporarily hold in abeyance those regulations being violated by a particular waste treatment activity, until that activity can be brought into regulatory compliance. The staff recommends that Orange County stop the discharge and bring the Northern facility into regulatory compliance immediately. This will be accomplished by implementing a "pump and haul" process which will completely eliminate the discharge into the east fork of the Eno River. The pump and haul process will involve plugging the outlet of the existing septic tank and then utilizing a pump truck to remove the waste from the tank two times per week. The waste will then be transported in the pump truck to Efland where it will be discharged via an on-line manhole into the sewer system. The pump and haul process 5 requires permitting by DEM. As pump and haul is a permitted treatment process, its implementation will bring the Northern facility into full compliance with DEM regulations. DEM permits pump and haul for limited time periods and, in all cases, considers it a temporary solution meant to serve until a permanent solution can be implemented. In terms of the Northern facility, the permanent solution will be a non-discharge treatment system which relies on ground absorption waste treatment technology. County staff estimates that the pump and haul process will continue for a period of not less than two nor more than ten months, depending on the factors of weather and the strategy that the BOCC adopts to address the situation. In the event that the BOCC choses to provide a ground absorption treatment system at Northern, the pump and haul process can be limited to approximately six months. The cost of the pump and haul operation is estimated to range from $2000 to $2500 per month. The effort to develop a design and accurate cost estimation for construction of a non-discharge treatment system for the Northern facility is already well under way. County Environmental Health staff have completed a thorough soils investigation at the facility. Staff have located only one area suitable for installation of a large nitrification field. The nitrification field site, which is capable of accommodating 3000 gallons per day (gpd) of septic tank effluent with a one hundred percent repair area, is located in the field on the eastern side of the main building. This field currently serves as the front lawn of the Northern facility. Environmental Health staff have also developed a preliminary design for a non-discharging system and other associated modifications to the Northern facility. The preliminary design process has determined that modification of the existing septic tank and sand filter is not economically feasible. The existing tank and filter are more than forty years old and in very poor condition. Rehabilitation of these units would be more expensive than replacement. It would also require that the facility operate without proper sanitary service during the weeks required for rehabilitation. Staff recommend that the existing septic tank and sand filter be demolished and filled in with soil. The recommended new system is a pump conventional septic system consisting of one 3500 gallon septic tank, one 3500 allon g pump tank, two effluent pumps with level controls, alarms, etc. , two 1000 gallon septic tanks to operate as a grease trap for the kitchen facility, 3300 liner feet of nitrification line with a dual header system, and miscellaneous yard piping. The existing system of yard piping, plumbing and grease trap will require some modification or replacement to provide for a new system layout, limitation of ground and surface water infiltration and grease removal. One unfortunate expense which will be generated by the proposed system layout is that incurred by the relocation of the existing well As the new nitrification field will be located ff` 6 within one hundred feet of the existing well, the well must be relocated in accordance with state health regulations. The only alternative to relocating the well would be to acquire nearby land where the nitrification field can be located. It is probable that the cost of land acquisition would exceed the cost of relocating the well. The cost of the new treatment system and associated modifications to the existing facility is estimated to be approximately $35,000. A cost breakdown is outlined below. 3500 gallon septic tank, installed $ 3000 3500 gallon pump tank, installed 3500 1000 gallon grease trap (2) , installed 2000 3000 linear feet nitrification line 13,000 Nitrification field dual header system, installed 2000 Miscellaneous yard piping, new and modified 3000 Effluent pumps (2 ) installed 1500 Pump control panel installed 1500 New 6 inch well 5500 Total $ 35,000 The outlined improvements to the Northern facility' s waste treatment system, along with the quality and depth of on-site soils, should provide adequate waste treatment capacity for the existing uses of the Northern facility for many years to come. The cost is significant, but the only alternative is to close the facility within twelve months. Staff will provide any additional information or answer questions as required by the BOCC or the County Manager.