Water Quality Permitting and Reporting Information System (PARIS)

Hello Mayor Burton and Wade,

Please see the attached letter regarding the Implementation of the Sewage Spill Webpage per 2025 Revision to Chapter 90.48 of the Revised Code of Washington. This letter was created to make you aware of this new legislation and to provide you guidance for relevant reporting.

If you have any question on the attached letter, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you,

Stephanie Giesin

Inspector and Permit Developer/Facility Manager

WA Department of Ecology | Water Quality Program

Central Region Office | 1250 W. Alder St. Union Gap, WA 98903

C: 509.504.0172 | Stephanie.giesin@ecy.wa.gov

Hi Wade,

Erik Van Doren asked me to forward the attached lagoon compliance advisory document onto you.

This had been passed down from the EPA to us and the Benton City POTW had been identified as a facility that this should be sent to.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Matthew Durkee, LHG

Senior Hydrogeologist

Water Quality Program

Washington Dept. of Ecology

1250 W. Alder Street, Union Gap, WA 98903

(509) 379-4384 (cell)

From: Microsoft Outlook <MicrosoftExchange329e71ec88ae4615bbc36ab6ce41109e@wa.gov>
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2021 1:46 PM
To: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY)
Subject: Relayed: Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349

Delivery to these recipients or groups is complete, but no delivery notification was sent by the destination server:

woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us (woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us)

Subject: Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349

From: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY) <CHUW461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2021 1:46 PM
To: woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us
Cc: Van Doren, Erik (ECY) <erva461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Subject: Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349
Importance: High

Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349. 

During this unprecedented time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your permit manager for assistance if you are unable to meet the submittal deadline.

If you use the WQWebPortal, you do not need to submit a hard copy of the report to Ecology. 

If you have any questions, please contact your permit manager, Erik Van Doren at erik.vandoren@ecy.wa.gov .

Our records show that the following required reports or submittals will be due by the date listed below: 

In most cases, the reports or submittals can be uploaded into the WQWebPortal (under Submit data for:  click on Permit Submittals).  If you use the WQWebPortal to upload your report/submittal, you do not need to mail in a hard copy of the report to Ecology.

Please do not attach the reports to your monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

Reports or submittals that are not received by Ecology by their required date are violations of your permit.  Please be aware that violations are subject to enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 173-220-230 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). 

If you have received this e-mail in error or you do not wish to receive these types of e-mails, please let me know.

Thank you.

From: Microsoft Outlook <MicrosoftExchange329e71ec88ae4615bbc36ab6ce41109e@wa.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2020 8:55 AM
To: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY)
Subject: Relayed: Benton City POTW, WA0051349 Upcoming Permit Submittal

Delivery to these recipients or groups is complete, but no delivery notification was sent by the destination server:

woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us (woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us)

Subject: Benton City POTW, WA0051349 Upcoming Permit Submittal

From: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY) <CHUW461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2020 8:55 AM
To: woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us
Cc: Van Doren, Erik (ECY) <erva461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Subject: Benton City POTW, WA0051349 Upcoming Permit Submittal
Importance: High

Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349. 

During this unprecedented time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your permit manager for assistance if you are unable to meet the submittal deadline.

If you use the WQWebPortal, you do not need to submit a hard copy of the report to Ecology. 

If you have any questions, please contact your permit manager, Erik Van Doren at erik.vandoren@ecy.wa.gov .

Our records show that the following required reports or submittals will be due by the date listed below: 

In most cases, the reports or submittals can be uploaded into the WQWebPortal (under Submit data for:  click on Permit Submittals).  If you use the WQWebPortal to upload your report/submittal, you do not need to mail in a hard copy of the report to Ecology.

Please do not attach the reports to your monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

Reports or submittals that are not received by Ecology by their required date are violations of your permit.  Please be aware that violations are subject to enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 173-220-230 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). 

If you have received this e-mail in error or you do not wish to receive these types of e-mails, please let me know.

Thank you.

From: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY) <CHUW461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Sent: Tuesday, December 3, 2019 12:30 PM
To: woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us
Cc: Van Doren, Erik (ECY) <erva461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Subject: Benton City POTW upcoming submittal

Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349. 

Our records show that the following required reports or submittals will be due by the date listed below: 

If you have any questions, please contact your permit manager, Erik Van Doren at 509-457-7119 or erik.vandoren@ecy.wa.gov .

In most cases, the reports or submittals can be uploaded into the WQWebPortal (under Submit data for:  click on Permit Submittals).  Please do not attach the reports to your monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

Reports or submittals that are not received by Ecology by their required date are violations of your permit.  Please be aware that violations are subject to enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 173-220-230 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). 

If you have received this e-mail in error or you do not wish to receive these types of e-mails, please let me know.

Thank you.

From: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY) <CHUW461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 2:33 PM
To: woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us
Cc: Van Doren, Erik (ECY) <erva461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Subject: Benton City upcoming permit submittal due 12/31/19

Reminder of upcoming permit submittals for Benton City POTW, Permit No. WA0051349. 

Our records show that the following required reports or submittals will be due by the date listed below: 

If you have any questions, please contact your permit manager, Erik Van Doren at 509-457-7119

or erik.vandoren@ecy.wa.gov .

In most cases, the reports or submittals can be uploaded into the WQWebPortal (under Submit data for:  click on Permit Submittals). 

Please do not attach the reports to your monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

Reports or submittals that are not received by Ecology by their required date are violations of your permit. 

Please be aware that violations are subject to enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 173-220-230 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). 

If you have received this e-mail in error or you do not wish to receive these types of e-mails, please let me know.

Thank you.

From: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY)
Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 7:53 AM
To: woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us
Cc: Van Doren, Erik (ECY) <erva461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Subject: Benton City Upcoming Permit Submittal

The following is a reminder of permit submittals that are due for Permit No. WA0051349 for the Benton City POTW.  If you have any questions, please contact your permit manager, Erik Van Doren at 509-457-7119 or erik.vandoren@ecy.wa.gov .

Our records show that the following required reports or submittals are due to the Department of Ecology (Ecology): 

In most cases, the reports or submittals can be uploaded into the WQWebPortal (under Submit data for:  click on Permit Submittals).  Please do not attach the reports to your monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

Reports or submittals that are not received by Ecology by their required date are violations of your permit.  Please be aware that violations are subject to enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 173-220-230 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). 

If you have received this e-mail in error or you do not wish to receive these types of e-mails, please let me know.

Thank you.

Hi Erik,

I believe the late submittal on the temp report was an issue with my office internet connection. I have had problems with my connection since our solar system was installed last winter.  The signal is coming from our maintenance shop 200 yards away and the panels seem to mess with the signal. I'm still waiting on Charter to run a service to the lab, which I believe is in the works right now. 

N. Wade Oscarson- Benton City

On Jun 11, 2018, at 11:15 AM, Van Doren, Erik (ECY) <erva461@ECY.WA.GOV> wrote:

Hi Wade,

Hope all is well in Benton City.

Hey I wanted to touch base with you on a topic that recently came up here at Ecology. In addition to DMR’s that we review for correctness/violations, our department generates reports to show when other documents are late or otherwise not submitted.

You have done a great job ensuring that these documents have been submitted on time. There was one document that our team brought to my attention and I believe you and I have already discussed it. The last seasonal monitoring data results that you submitted to Ecology was a day late. You and I discussed that when the next permit rolls your way and if the seasonal temperature monitoring data collection continues that we would write the permit to allow for you to submit the data by January 15^th rather than on the first of the month.

Could you send me a short e-mail explaining the one day late submittal. Doesn’t need to be lengthy but just to suffice that I’ve got notification of the late submittal.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Best,

Erik Van Doren

Permit Developer/Facility Manager

WA State Dept. of Ecology

Central Regional Office

1250 W. Alder St.

Union Gap, WA 98903

Ph: (509) 457-7119

Email: ERVA461@ecy.wa.gov

Wade,

How are things at the Benton City Wastewater Treatment Facility? I’m enjoying this warmer weather and looking forward to more of it!

I wanted to follow up on something we discussed during my visit down there. We’ve talked in short about how it would be ideal to have someone from the Benton City personnel obtain certification to give you more “away” time so to speak. Ideally that would be the easiest but may be problematic if they are struggling with the examination. If there is something you think they might need to help them pass the test, please let me know and between Andy O’Neil and I we can provide some study material.

I’ve been faced with this same dilemma when I was a permittee working at a smaller POTW as well. Just wanted to give you an idea about how I approached the situation and the result.

1. I had a wedding (my wedding) I had to attend and needed days off. That meant I didn’t want a phone call while I was away on vacation.

   1. It was a Class II plant requiring at least a Group II certified operator. If there was a Class I operator onsite, I was still obligated to be available for a phone call. That wasn’t going to be an option for I didn’t want phone calls when I was on my honeymoon. This situation can be applied to you if you have a plan to take time off and might be out of cell phone range or simply want to not have to be contacted, it would require a Group II operator.

2. I then contacted my city public works administrator and advised him of the situation.

3. We reached out to PNCWA who in turn sent out an e-mail to wastewater operators that would be interested in an onsite training opportunity which then would require the operator to have a contract with the city.

4. There wasn’t enough time to train someone to properly take on the responsibilities so we ended up contracting with the Engineering Firm (costly) to have their Group III operator onsite while I was gone. The Engineering firm’s operator had been onsite during the construction of the new facility upgrades and was familiar with the system. It was a one-time thing so the cost was justified.

I’m not saying this is what you should do but I do think it would be appropriate to bring this up with your supervisor to begin discussing the need to be properly staffed and to have an additional certified operator at least with a Group I certification to operate the facility in the event you plan on being gone.

I’ve attached a checklist document for you to review. In the event you perhaps have an certified wastewater operator that is willing to contract with the city, the checklist can serve as a tool for both the facility and operator to develop a contract.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Erik Van Doren

Permit Developer/Facility Manager

WA State Dept. of Ecology

Central Regional Office

1250 W. Alder St.

Union Gap, WA 98903

Ph: (509) 457-7119

Email: ERVA461@ecy.wa.gov

From: Huwe, Cynthia (ECY)
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2017 8:48 AM
To: woscarson@ci.benton-city.wa.us
Cc: Miller, Steve (ECY) <stem461@ECY.WA.GOV>
Subject: Benton City Upcoming Submittal Reminder

The following is a reminder of permit submittals that are due for Permit No. WA0051349 – Benton City POTW.  If you have any questions, please contact your permit manager, Steve Miller at (509) 457-7119 or steve.miller@ecy.wa.gov.

Our records show that the following required reports or submittals are due to the Department of Ecology (Ecology): 

In most cases, the reports or submittals can be uploaded into the Water Quality Permitting Portal (under Submit data for:  click on Permit Submittals).  Please do not attach the reports to your monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

Reports or submittals that are not received by Ecology by their required date are violations of your permit.  Please be aware that violations are subject to enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 173-220-230 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). 

Reminder emails will be sent on a quarterly basis.  If you have received this e-mail in error or you do not wish to receive these types of e-mails, please let me know.

Thank you.

Smith contacted Alan Rue with Ecology's Laboratory Accreditation program to gather more information about Ian Laseke's note in the May inspection report that the Benton City laboratory had lost its accreditation. Alan said that according to the Laboratory Accreditation program records Benton City has maintained its accreditation and had not lost it. Alan said that the lab. may not have had the most recent paperwork on hand but that the lab was accredited continuously.

I met with Ron Shumate to discuss the cities current and future plans in addressing issues related to a plugged air line in the aeration basin. This is not a new issue. Several operational tests failed to identify the key issue. Ron’s next step will be to remove the entire diffuser chain. This procedure will be labor intensive and require additional staff resources. Ron anticipates starting this process later in the summer. I agreed to be on sight to assist as needed.