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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-01-2022; 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum - NCDEQ Public Hearing for City of Durham’s “Proposed Water Supply Critical Area Reclassification of Teer Quarry 1 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners Bonnie Hammersley, Orange County Manager Travis Myren, Orange County Deputy Manager FROM: Cy Stober, Planning & Inspections Director CC: Christopher Sandt, Staff Engineer DATE: November 1, 2022 SUBJECT: North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Public Hearing for City of Durham's "Proposed Water Supply Critical Area Reclassification of Teer Quarry and a Section of the Eno Rive" ATTACHMENT(S): 1 —City of Durham's 2020 Request for Resolution of Support from BOCC 2 — BOCC Resolution 2020-056 (executed September 15, 2020) 3 — 2022 Correspondence from City of Durham 4 — NCDEQ Public Hearing Information The purpose of this Information Item is to notify the BOCC of updates to procedural requirements associated with the City of Durham's (City's) Teer Quarry project and the related NCDEQ public hearing scheduled for November 3, 2022. The City owns and operates the Teer Quarry Reservoir (Teer Quarry), an emergency water storage reservoir located along the Eno River in Durham County approximately 0.80 miles to the east of US-501 and approximately 15 miles downriver from the USGS "Eno River at Hillsborough" gauge (USGS Gauge #02085000). The City plans to convert Teer Quarry to a non-emergency source of water supply for the City once Teer Quarry has been appropriately classified for drinking water purposes and approved by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC). To convert Teer Quarry to a non-emergency Water Supply, the City must construct a new raw water intake on the Eno River approximately 3/4 mile upstream of the City's existing Eno River emergency intake. The City originally anticipated that construction and use of the new raw water intake at Teer Quarry would require formal reclassification of all affected Orange County parcels located within the 3/4 mile upstream shift so as to adhere to land use ordinances imposed by the State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program. In February 2020, the City formally requested a Resolution of Support from Orange County to confirm Orange County's support of the proposed reclassification. See Attachment 1 for a copy of the City's 2020 request, with reference map showing the proposed location of the new raw water intake and affected areas within Orange County. The BOCC executed the associated Resolution of Support at the September 15, 2020 BOCC Business Meeting (Attachment 2). In September 2022, the City informed Orange County that the NCDEQ Division of Water Resources (DWR) Planning Section made the formal determination that the proposed new Teer Quarry intake will not induce the need for reclassification of parcels within Orange County 2 as Protected Area (Attachment 3). The existing Protected Area within the Lower Eno Protected Watershed of Orange County will suffice as the proposed Protected Area for the new Teer Quarry intake and the parcel reclassifications required for the proposed Teer Quarry project are fully contained within Durham County. As such, Orange County will not need to complete the zoning overlay district requirements related to a reclassification of affected parcels in order for the proposed Teer Quarry initiative to move forward with DWR. Accordingly, Orange County will not need to expend funds associated with the required reclassification's public hearing notices and procedures (estimated at $25,000 to $40,000). NCDEQ will hold a public hearing titled, "Proposed Water Supply Critical Area Reclassification of Teer Quarry and a Section of the Eno Rive'' on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. The public hearing will be located at the Durham Technical Community College— North Durham Center, Building 1 — Room 130 (2401 Snow Hill Road, Durham, NC 27712). See Attachment 4 for additional information and details on the NCDEQ public hearing. Written comments related to the public hearing will be accepted by DWR until November 14, 2022. Orange County staff are not currently planning to attend the public hearing. All questions in this matter should be directed to Cy Stober, Planning & Inspections Director (cstober orangecountync.gov; 919-245-2585). 2 3 WATER MANAGEMENT CITY OF DURHAM February 14, 2020 Mr. Craig Benedict Planning & Inspections Director Orange County 306-F Revere Rd. Hillsborough, NC 27278 RE: Eno River Water Supply Classification Dear Mr. Benedict: We would like your help in requesting that the Orange County Board of Commissioners pass a Resolution of Support for Reclassifying a Segment of the Eno River for Water Supply in Durham County, North Carolina. This reclassification would require that Orange County adopt land use ordinances meeting the requirements of the State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program for the portion of Orange County that would be included in the protected area of the water supply watershed if the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) reclassifies the segment of the Eno River for a water supply as the City of Durham requests. Teer Quarry, owned by the City of Durham, is critical for meeting the City's emergency water supply needs. Using Teer Quarry as a water supply requires filling the quarry from a new water intake in the Eno River. The new intake would be 3% of a mile upstream of an existing Eno River emergency water intake. The segment of the Eno River with that existing emergency water intake is already classified as a water supply, with a watershed protection protected area extending into Orange County and a critical area within Durham County. Figure 1 on the next page shows Teer Quarry, the existing Eno River emergency water intake, the proposed new Eno River water intake, the existing watershed protection critical and protected areas, and the additional watershed protection protected area and critical areas that the new Eno River water supply classification would require. A result of this water supply classification would be to extend the existing protected area by an additional 3% of a mile into Orange County. The State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program (15A NCAC 02B .0620-.0624, attached) would limit the maximum allowable project densities and minimum lot sizes for development in the protected area to: 1. Low Density Single-Family Detached Residential Development — 2 dwelling units per acre or 20,000 square foot lot excluding roadway right-of-way or 24% built-upon; or 3 dwelling units per acre or 36% built-upon area without curb and gutter street system. 2. Low Density Non-Residential and All Other Residential Development — 24% built-upon area; or 36% built-upon area without curb and gutter street system. 3. High Density Development—24 to 70% built-upon area. These limitations would not apply to existing development, but would impact any new development or redevelopment that occurs once the EMC reclassifies the Eno River segment. The State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program would also require vegetated setbacks along perennial water bodies and perennial streams with the following minimum widths: 1600 Mist Lake Dr. Durham, NC 27704 919.560.4381DurhamNC.gov Follow Us @CityofDurhamNC 1 00 0 4 1. Low density projects—30 feet 2. High density projects—100 feet 3. Projects covered under the 10/70 option—100 feet Figure 1.Teer Quarry,Eno River Intakes,and Protected Watershed Areas t • r, ! � � .• •fes{ `' �_ `,_ _ 5,, �' - l� `4 =a ' _ 411 �., V0 0 • I[ `t 185 US70 O '? , ` Es.'.H,RE.Gamin,9 Open[ kjt.lap contnburor,a 1 tie G>s nser cam —'Ay Legend Intake Location I-7 Water Supply Watershed-Proposed Intake —Major Road O Critical Area-Proposed Intake Eno River Raw Water Intake near Teer Quarry Road Water Supply Watershed-Existing Intake %LA Durham,North Carolina Q County Boundary MM Critical Area-Existing Intake ' Municipal Boundary Q NPDES Discharge Waterbody Attached is a brief memorandum summarizing the difference in development requirements that would result from a westward extension of the L-ENO-PW protected area in Orange County. Your own analysis would likely be more accurate. Once the City has obtained resolutions of support for the Eno River water supply classification from all of the affected jurisdictions (Town of Hillsborough, Orange County, Durham County, and City of Durham), we would submit an application for the Eno River water supply classification to the NC Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources (DWR). This process will take at least 18 months according to the description from DWR (attached). The City of Durham has water distribution system interconnections with the Town of Hillsborough and with the 1600 Mist Lake Dr. Durham, NC 27704 I 919.560.4381 I DurhamNC.govI Follow Us @©o© NCrhamNC 5 Orange Water and Sewer Authority, both of which provide potable water to a large portion of Orange County. The City also provides water to customers in a small part of Orange County.The City is at the center of an interconnected, regional water supply network that includes the Town of Hillsborough, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, Chatham County, the City of Raleigh, and the Town of Cary. Improving the City of Durham's water supply reliability will improve water supply reliability for much of Orange County. Attached is a template for your use in drafting a Resolution of Support for Reclassifying a Segment of the Eno River for Water Supply in Durham County, North Carolina for adoption by the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Sydney Miller, Water Resources Manager, will contact you to discuss the details. You may reach Sydney t 919-560-4381, ext. 35201 or sydney.miller@durhamnc.gov. Sincerely, Donald F. Greeley Director Attachments: 1. Water Supply Watershed Protection Program Rule 2. Water Supply Classification Process 3. Summary of Orange County Protected Area Development Requirements 4. Resolution of Support for Reclassifying a Segment of the Eno River for Water Supply in Durham County, North Carolina. C: Christopher Sandt,Staff Engineer, Orange County Planning & Inspections Department Sydney Miller, Water Resources Manager 1600 Mist Lake Dr.Durham, NC 27704 919.560.4381 I DurhamNC.gov ( Follow Us @C©o©rham® Attachment 2 6 RES-2020-056 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Resolution of Support for Reclassifying a Segment of the Eno River for Water Supply in Durham County, North Carolina WHEREAS, the City of Durham owns Teer Quarry located at 5090 Denfield Road in Durham County, adjacent to the Eno River; and WHEREAS, Teer Quarry is critical for meeting the City's emergency water supply needs and will improve the City's water system reliability; and WHEREAS, Orange County has an allocation of water supply storage in Jordan Lake with the expectation that the City of Durham's water supply system will serve a portion of Orange County with water from Orange County's Jordan Lake water supply allocation; and WHEREAS, the City of Durham is at the center of an interconnected, regional water supply network that includes the Town of Hillsborough, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, Chatham County, the City of Raleigh, and the Town of Cary; and WHEREAS, improving the City of Durham's water supply reliability improves water supply reliability for the Town of Hillsborough, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, and Orange County; and WHEREAS, use of Teer Quarry as a water supply requires filling it from a new intake in the Eno River; and WHEREAS, the North Carolina General Statutes require that the segment of the Eno River in which the new intake is located and its watershed, as well as Teer Quarry, be reclassified to protect the quality of the water; NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners hereby resolves to support the reclassification of the lands and waters identified by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality as being within the new Eno River intake watershed to WS-IV NSW with a Critical Area (CA) and Protected Area (PA), and Teer Quarry to WSIV NSW CA. This 15th day of September, 2020. Attest: y P14 ' David Hunt, Deputy Clerk to the Board nnyUC Rich, air ange County Board of Commissioners l�R.'J�y'p oe A.ka,#4 +Y t� o Attachment 3 7 From: Miller.Svtlnev To: N ctoM1rr Q: OirirtooM1er Santlt subject FW:[External]Re:Maps provided In RxIassifcatlan Request ror Eno RNer and Tm,curry Data: Tuesday,September 20,2022 3:09:33 PM Attachments: Ian-001— Cy, n-001 onCy, I just got off the phone with Christopher(copied on this email).Below is an email exchange I had with Elizabeth Kountis(DWR Planning Section)who is responsible for surface water reclassifications.I have highlighted the relevant statements confirming that the surface water reclassification of the Eno River that the City of Durham requested for a proposed Eno River intake upstream of our existing Eno River emergency intake will not result in any change to the existing Protected Area that was established for our existing Eno River emergency intake. All of this is consistent with the information that.was presented to the EMC,and is consistent with the information DWR sent to the public for the hearing on November 3`d.There is nothing for Orange County to do if the EMC reclassifies the Eno River for water supply as the City has requested. --Syd Sydney Paul Miller Water Resources Manager Department of Water Management City of Durham 1600 Mist Lake Drive Durham,NO 27704 919.560.4381 ext.35201 Sydney MillsrPdurhan eov I ®WATER MANAGEMENT CITY OF DURHAM Please note that—rd correspondence to ondfro thissender may besubject In the provisions of North Carolina Public Records Law and disclosed to third parties. From:Miller,Sydney Sent:Tuesday,February 22,2022 2:20 PM To:Kountis,Elizabeth<elizabeth.kountis@ricclenr.gov, Ce:Roper,Brooke<Brocke.Roper@durhamri Subject:RE:[External]Re:Maps provided in Reclassification Requestfor Eno River and Teer Quarry Elizabeth, 1. 1 will work with Brooke to obtain a shapefile ofthe quarry perimeter. 2. We see no reason to extend the CA for the quarry beyond its perimeter. 3. We are OK with keeping the PA forthe existing Eno River intake as is,understanding that the PA for the existing Eno River intake would also serve as the PA for the proposed Eno River intake. --Syd Sydney Paul Miller Water Resources Manager Department of Water Management City of Durham 1600 Mist Lake Drive Durham,NC 27704 919.560.4381 ext.35201 Svdney.M iller(adurhamnc.eov In WATER MANAGEMENT CITY OF DURHAM Please note that-0 correspondence m oddhom this sender may be subject m the provisions of North Carolina Public Records Low and disclosed to third parties. From:Kountis,Elizabeth<elizabeth.kountisrancdenr.eov> Sent:Tuesday,February 22,2022 2:08 PM To:Miller,Sydney<Svdney.Mlller andu rham nceov> Cc:Roper,Brooke<Braoke.Roperno durhamnceov> Subject:RE:[External]Re:Maps provided in Reclassification Request for Eno River and Teer Quarry Good afternoon! State staff have been looking at the mapping info and files for the proposed reclassifications,and have a few questions: • There appears to be no shapefile/layer for the proposed CA for the quarry in the gdb file.Can you please send us one?It would be the(top of the)quarry's berm according to the state.If Durham desires,Durham could request a larger CA for the quarry. • The existing PA(for the existing intake just downstream of the proposed river intake)would suffice as the proposed PA for the proposed river intake.Is that ok with Durham?Or does Durham want a larger PA for the proposed intake that would include the non-gray-shaded&hatched area shown on the left side of the map provided in the reclassification request,which is also provided below? 8 4 fl.5 1 2 3 4 Miles Q 7 15 u• d y. rtes_E-u HERE 1T5Li.5,Intermap,:iNCR fii .�N RCan E Japan METI,Es rl IHolg 9ion91 Eso Es�tTiwtarklr KIGCC.®Open5�2eItAap can[do rs and the User Community+ Legend Eno River Raw Water Intake near Teer Quarry O Existing Intake Existing Critical Area Critical and Protected Areas 0 New Intake �Existing Protected Area New Critical Area-Eno River Hillsborough ®New Protected Area-Eno River 1:3 County Boundary New Critical Area-Teer Quarry Elizabeth Kountis State Water Quality Standards Coordinator Classifications&Standards/Rules Review Branch NC DEQ Division of Water Resources Tel:(919)707 3685 Email correspondence to and from thls address may be subject to the Ne Public Records.Law and may be disclosed to third parties. From:Miller,Sydney[mailto:Svdnev.MillerRdurhamnceov] Sent:Thursday,February 17,2022 12:08 PM To:Kountis,Elizabeth<elizabeth.kountis anncdenr.eov> Cc:Roper,Brooke<Brooke.RooerPdurhamnc.eov> Subject:RE:[External]Re:Maps provided in Reclassification Request for Eno River and Teer Quarry CAUTION:External email.Do not click linksor open attachments unless you verify.Send all suspicious email as an attachment to Benori,pa Proposed intake:let is 36.07259641 and long is-78.89300008 Existing intake:lat is 36.07767242 and long is-78.88215394 Both are included in the gdb file Sydney Paul Miller Water Resources Manager Department of Water Management City of Durham 1600 Mist Lake Drive Durham,NC 27704 919.560.4381 ext.35201 Svddn y.Millernvdurhamnceav M WATER MANAGEMENT CITY OF DURHAM Please nate that e-mail correspondence to andfrom this sender may be subject to the provisions of North Carolina Public Records Law and disclosed to third parties. From:Kountis,Elizabeth celizabeth.kountisna ncdenr.eov, Sent:Thursday,February 17,202211:45 AM To:Miller,Sydney<Sydney MillerCaldurhamnc eov> Subject:RE:[External]Re:Maps provided in Reclassification Request for Eno River and Teer Quarry P.S.I'd like to verify the lat and long of the proposed intake.Can you provide that info to me please? Thanks 9 Elizabeth Kountis StateWater Quality Standards Coordinator Classifications&Standards/Rules Review Branch NC DEQ Division of Water Resources Tel:(919)707-3685 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the NC Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. Attachment 4 10 PROPOSED WATER SUPPLY CRITICAL AREA RECLASSIFICATION OF TEER QUARRY AND A SECTION OF THE ENO RIVER: PUBLIC HEARING SET FOR NOVEMBER 2022 PUBLIC HEARING: Location, Date and Time Location: Durham Technical Community College-North Durham Center Building 1 -Room 130, 2401 Snow Hill Road, Durham,NC 27712 Time&Date: 6:00 p.m., Thursday,November 3,2022 Proposed Water Supply-IV Critical Area Reclassification Teer Quarry and Ergo River, Durham County, Neuse River Basin, NC Legend "•... _`. ®Proposed Quarry W54V CA Q Pmpased Riverine WS-IV CA Existing Layers (? US ll 3 0 6 €7 9 1 l i©ExlsHng Rrvenne WS-IU PA �,4iles iii Existing R erne W'S-iv CA Ma)or Ilyd oingy Map created March 2022 (Data Sourced from NCDEQ and NC OneMap) 11 The City of Durham has requested that Teer quarry and an Eno River segment in Durham County(Neuse River Basin)be reclassified.These waters are proposed to be reclassified from being in a Class Water Supply-IV(WS-IV)(Protected Area or PA)to the Class WS-IV Critical (CA)designation. This reclassification is needed because the City of Durham seeks to construct a new intake in the river,pump water from the intake to the quarry,and utilize the quarry's waters as a public water supply. A hearing is to be conducted to receive comments on the proposal and associated regulatory impact analysis. WATERS TO BE AFFECTED BY THE PROPOSED RECLASSIFICATION Teer quarry is located adjacent to the southern side of the Eno River, approximately five miles west of Falls Lake, and at the northern terminus of Denfield Street in Durham,NC. The proposed riverine intake is located about 1.1 miles downstream of the U.S. 501 bridge. The boundary for the proposed CA for the quarry consists of the top of the quarry's berm, and the boundary for the proposed CA for the new intake would extend approximately 0.5 mile from and draining to that intake. There are no named tributaries to the river or quarry included in this proposal. The waters to be reclassified meet surface water supply water quality standards according to 2021 DWR studies. Sampling of groundwater wells adjacent to the quarry has revealed the presence of contaminants from releases of petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents associated with historical uses of the area.The levels of various contaminants including 1,4-dioxane have been found to exceed associated groundwater(02L)standards.The consulting firm(ELMSS)that has conducted the most recent groundwater sampling in the area found that groundwater flow in the depth zones where these levels were detected is toward the quarry.DWR concurs with the consulting firm's recommendation of continued annual monitoring in the area and increased surface water monitoring to confirm that impacts from groundwater are not affecting the quarry's surface water. REGULATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROPOSED RECLASSIFICATION If these waters are reclassified,restrictions associated with new development and new industrial process wastewater discharges would apply in the proposed CAs.Additionally,no new landfills or new residual or septage land application sites would be allowed in the proposed CAs.Water supply water quality standards would continue to apply in these areas.There are no permitted or planned wastewater discharges,and no known planned land applications sites,landfills,or developments that would be impacted by the proposal. The subject watershed consists mainly of developed single-family residential areas plus two developed industrial parcels.WS-IV requirements are available online at https://deg.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/planning/classification-standards/rules. DWR staff worked with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission(WRC)and City of Durham staff to come to an agreement in 2019 regarding the conditions pertaining to water quantity by which the City of Durham would be allowed to(1)withdraw water for water supply purposes from the Eno River as well as Lake Michie and Little River Reservoir and transfer those waters into the Teer quarry,and (2)use water in the Teer quarry for water supply. Furthermore,letters of no objection were received from the parties that are subject to the Voluntary Eno River Capacity Use Area Water Management Operations Plan(WMOP)along with the City of Durham,which are the Town of Hillsborough(Hillsborough Water System),Orange-Alamance Water System,and Resco Products(formerly Piedmont Minerals). Lastly,a regulatory impact analysis(RIA)for this proposal,which has been approved by OSBM,shows a one-time cost of$2,000 to the state associated with notification,review,and approval of ordinance changes,and a one-time shared cost of$8,000 to the City of Durham and Durham County affiliated with rezoning and ordinance text amendments.Durham County and the City of Durham are the only local governments with jurisdiction in the reclassification area,are responsible for developing and implementing the water supply watershed ordinances within the proposed CAs and would need to modify their water supply watershed protection ordinance within the required 270 days after the reclassification effective date to at least meet the state's minimum requirements. MEETING FEDERAL TRIENNIAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS The public hearing and comment period are to be held in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act that requires States, at least every three years,to review and revise water quality standards. These standards are provided in existing rules NCAC 15A 02B .0100 and.0201 through .0228. The process is called the Triennial Review and includes an assessment and revision of the designated uses of waters (classifications) and the water quality criteria (standards),which are based on the designated uses. More specifically,this public hearing and comment period are to address the potential assignment of a WS-IV CA classification to Teer quarry and a portion of the Eno River watershed for the purpose of protecting the proposed designated use as a public water supply. This proposal will result in changing the water quality standards for waters within the above-mentioned areas. 12 HOW TO SUBMIT COMMENTS You may attend the hearing and provide verbal comments that specifically address the proposed reclassification and its RIA for Teer quarry and a portion of the Eno River.The Hearing Officer may limit the length of time that you speak at the hearing,if necessary,so that all those who wish to speak may have an opportunity to do so. In addition,written comments addressing the proposed reclassification and RIA for Teer quarry and the Eno River segment will be accepted until November 14,2022. All persons interested and potentially affected by the proposal are encouraged to read this announcement and make comments on the proposal.The proposed effective date for this proposed reclassification is May 1,2023. Written comments on the proposed reclassification and RIA for Teer quarry and the Eno River segment may be submitted to Elizabeth Kountis of the Division of Water Resources Planning Section at the postal address or e-mail address listed below. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This announcement and additional information regarding the waters proposed to be reclassified are located online at https://deq.nc.gov/news/events/public-notices-hearings. In the case of inclement weather on the day of the scheduled public hearing,please contact the telephone number below for a recorded message regarding any changes to the location, date, or time of the hearing_Further explanations and details on reclassifications may be obtained by writing or calling: Elizabeth Kountis,DEQ-Division of Water Resources,Planning Section, 1611 Mail Service Center,Raleigh,NC 27699-1611 phone(919)707-3685,e-mail elizabeth.kountiskncdenr.gov To learn more about how the Division of Water Resources protects water quality in North Carolina, go to hl�2:Hdeq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources e # � Al i Fq:. LLQ, 'p,