City of Rocky Mount has received a notice of violation and a potential $25,000 civil penalty by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
The notice was sent after a DEQ site inspection at a water treatment plant in May; state environmental officials noted foams, solids and highly turbid water being discharged into the Tar River from a plant outfall.
The site inspection was scheduled after an anonymous tipster fishing at the Tar River Reservoir noticed the issue and called it in to Sound Rivers.
“Their permit specifically says no foams or solids are allowed but in trace amounts, and you can definitely see foam and solids in the pictures,” Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman said. “But I think the biggest takeaway from the NOV, is it says instruction to cease plant operations was received by phone
call and followed up in an email on May 8, but they continued to discharge until the afternoon of May 9.”
Sound Rivers officials said it highlights the importance of reporting something they feel could be harmful to water quality.
“It definitely just shows the importance of people keeping an eye out and letting us know when something doesn’t look right,” said Zimmerman. “And this was good work on DEQ’s part because they responded immediately and have now resolved an issue that may or not have been spotted if we hadn’t gotten that call.”
The water treatment plant has not been in operation since May 9.
According to the City’s response, equipment used to remove sludge from one of two settling basins on the site failed, so all discharge was being pumped into the remaining basin.
Whether a civil penalty will be assessed has yet to be determined.
