The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has issued a notice of violation and a possible civil penalty of $25,000 to the City of Rocky Mount.
State environmental officials observed foams, sediments, and extremely turbid water being released into the Tar River from a facility outfall during a DEQ site visit at a water treatment plant in May, which prompted the warning.
An anonymous tipster who was fishing at the Tar River Reservoir discovered the problem and notified Sound Rivers, which led to the scheduling of the site inspection.
“You can definitely see foam and solids in the pictures,” said Katey Zimmerman, the Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper, adding that their permit expressly states that no foams or solids are permitted except in trace amounts. The NOV’s most important lesson, in my opinion, is that they continued to discharge until the afternoon of May 9 after receiving a phone call and an email on May 8 instructing them to stop plant operations.
According to Sound Rivers officials, it emphasizes how crucial it is to report anything that can be detrimental to the quality of the water.
“It just goes to show how important it is for people to be vigilant and alert us when something doesn’t seem right,” Zimmerman added. Additionally, DEQ did a wonderful job because they reacted right away and fixed a problem that might not have been noticed if we hadn’t received that contact.
Since May 9, the water treatment plant has not been operating.
The City’s answer states that all effluent was being pushed into the other settling basin because the machinery used to remove sludge from one of the site’s two settling basins malfunctioned.
It has not yet been decided if a civil penalty will be imposed.
