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Home My WebLink About07.a. Permit Contract with Acme Fill CorporationCentral Contra Costa Sanitary District ' BOARD OF DIRECTORS ' a POSITION PAPER Board Meeting Date: October 20, 2011 Subject: AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE A PERMIT CONTRACT WITH ACME FILL CORPORATION FOR DISCHARGE OF TREATED LANDFILL LEACHATE Submitted By: Timothy Potter, Environmental Compliance Superintendent Initiating DeptJDiv.: Engineering /Environmental Services RE VIEWED 1\ AND RECOMMENDED FOR BOARD ACTION T. Potter A. Farrell K. Alm James Kelly General anager ISSUE: Wastewater Discharge Permit Contracts for Class I Industrial Users must be approved by the Board of Directors. RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the General Manager to execute a 3 -year Permit Contract with Acme Fill Corporation for discharge of treated leachate through October 31, 2014. FINANCIAL IMPACTS: No adverse financial impacts are anticipated from entering into this contractual agreement with Acme. Source Control, laboratory, and legal costs will be recovered as billable activities. Treatment plant and collection system costs will be recovered through the Sewer Service Charge. ALTERNATIVES /CONSIDERATIONS: Two alternatives to the proposed Permit Contract were considered: 1) discontinue accepting the treated leachate; or 2) continue with the previous agreement that mandated the use of Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) as part of the treatment process. Neither alternative is preferred by Acme Fill Corporation, and because Acme Fill Corp. has limited options to properly dispose of the landfill leachate, staff has been working with them to develop an agreement that meets both parties' needs. BACKGROUND: Acme's pretreated landfill leachate has been accepted by the District since the early 1990s, and through permit contracts since 1994. A permit contract was used to protect the District and to preserve the right to modify the discharge conditions or stop receiving the treated leachate. The District chose to receive the leachate after encouragement from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) because the District's acceptance of the leachate under strict conditions provided the best regional environmental solution. The term of the current Permit Contract was extended twice at Acme's request to allow time to complete a study of the effects of eliminating the use of Powered Activated Carbon (PAC) within the treatment processes of the Leachate Treatment Plant (LTP). NAENVRSEMPosition Papers \Potter`2011 \GM Sign Acme 3 Yr Contract 10- 20- 11.doc Page 1 of 3 POSITION PAPER Board Meeting Date: October 20, 2011 subject: AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE A PERMIT CONTRACT WITH ACME FILL CORPORATION FOR DISCHARGE OF TREATED LANDFILL LEACHATE PAC was required by the LTP because it addressed operational problems that were encountered with the LTP in 1994. Acme requested the PAC special study to determine if PAC could be removed from the LTP treatment processes to substantially reduce the cost of operating the LTP including the cost of PAC, reduced volume of hazardous waste in LTP solids transported off -site, and lower hazardous waste taxes due to reduced volume of sludge. Addition of PAC to the LTP stopped in November 2010. Monitoring of the LTP effluent identified that removal of pollutants of concern (e.g. mercury, PCBs, dioxin compounds, organic compounds) did not appear to decline with the removal of PAC. However, there were two limit violations: ammonia in February 2011 and mercury in July 2011. These were the first violations for these pollutant parameters since Permit Contracts were used to authorize the LTP discharges in 1994. Notices of Violation (NOVs) were issued for both of these limit violations. Acme responded to both citations identifying concerns about the analytical quality of the data. The District will monitor the monthly effluent data submitted by Acme to ensure a trend does not develop with regards to increased ammonia or mercury in the discharge. The proposed Permit Contract maintains the protections in the previous Permit Contract, addresses certain changes requested by Acme representatives to reduce their compliance costs, and includes modifications in response to the PAC special study. District staff believes these changes are acceptable and do not significantly increase the risk to our facilities from the Acme discharge. The proposed Permit Contract contains the following significant changes over the current Permit Contract: • The requirement to use PAC in the treatment processes of the LTP is removed resulting in significant cost savings to Acme; • The self- monitoring program required of Acme is modified to reduce the self - monitoring frequency for certain pollutant parameters based on review of historic data; • The self - monitoring, program required of Acme is modified to increase the parameters to include PCBs and dioxin compounds analyzed using high resolution analytical methods. The District currently has dioxin limits and PCB monitoring requirements in our NPDES permit and as such is it important to understand the potential contribution from Acme of these constituents. The frequency of Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing is increased from annually to semi - annually to provide for dry and wet season monitoring without the PAC treatment and to ensure that Acme is not contributing any form of toxicity to our process; N: \ENVRSEC\Position Papers \Potter\2011 \GM Sign Acme 3 Yr Contract 10- 20- 11.doc Page 2 of 3 POSITION PAPER Board Meeting Date: October 20, 2011 subject: AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE A PERMIT CONTRACT .WITH ACME FILL CORPORATION FOR DISCHARGE OF TREATED LANDFILL LEACHATE The reduction in the required Certificate of Deposit amount from $150,000 to $50,000 that was approved during the 3/18/10 extension is incorporated. As with the previous Permit Contract, the proposed Permit Contract includes conditions that allow the District to change the leachate monitoring parameters or effluent limits to protect District facilities and operations or to meet new regulatory requirements. The District also has the right to suspend or terminate the leachate discharge if acceptance of the treated leachate affects the District's ability to meet NPDES limits, results in the District's treatment plant being classified as a hazardous waste treatment facility or affects the District's ability to reclaim water. Negotiations with Acme regarding the above modifications to the Permit Contact have occurred. Acme expressed concern about the increased monitoring costs associated with the high resolution analytical methods for PCBs and Dioxin compounds, and increased toxicity testing. Staff believes the recommended action is appropriate to ensure protection of our treatment process and compliance with our discharge requirements. Staff was continuing to negotiate with Acme as the agenda packet was finalized. Any updates will be provided at the Board meeting. Staff has concluded that approval of this contract is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). District CEQA Guidelines Section 15308 provides an exemption where a regulatory agency which is authorized by state or local ordinance to assure the maintenance or protection of the environment takes action to affect such a purpose. The execution of a Permit Contract with Acme Fill Corporation is intended to maintain and protect the waters and other aspects of the environment. Approval of this contract will establish the Board of Directors' independent finding that this contract is exempt from CEQA. RECOMMENDED BOARD ACTION: Authorize the General Manager to execute the proposed Permit Contract with Acme Fill Corporation for discharge of treated landfill leachate from the Acme Landfill located in Martinez, California through October 31, 2014. N: \ENVRSEC \Position Papers \Potter`2011 \GM Sign Acme 3 Yr Contract 10- 20- 11.doc Page 3 of 3