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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.a.1) General Manager Additional Written AnnouncementsBoard Meeting of April 4, 2013 (90,4 ouf Additional Written Announcements: Treatment Plant c) Opacity Excursion on March 26, 2013 On Tuesday, March 26, 2013, in preparation for a source test on Multiple Hearth Furnace 1 (MHF #1) Operations personnel decreased the furnace feed from two centrifuges to a single centrifuge. During this transition an opacity excursion was experienced. The excursion was greater than 20% opacity for a total of 3 minutes and 50 seconds. This exceeded the District's Bay Area Air Quality Management District ( BAAQMD) Permit -to- Operate limit of 3 minutes of opacity > 20% in a clock -hour period. The excess opacity was reported to BAAQMD the same day. On Friday, March 29, 2013, Peter Calimeris, BAAQMD Inspector, was on -site to investigate the excess opacity. Mr. Calimeris requested a copy of the operating data that documented the opacity excess and a brief description of the incident. Mr. Calimeris will prepare a report on the excess opacity which will be used to determine if any further enforcement is necessary by BAAQMD. The District has not had a violation of its Title V air permit for more than 5 years. Board Workshop d) Board Priorities Workshop Scheduled for May 21, 2013 After screening and interviewing several management consultants, District staff has selected Larry Bienati, Ph.D., Senior Principal of Consultants to Management, Inc., Benicia, California, to be the facilitator and consultant for the upcoming Board Priorities Workshop. Dr. Bienati has a Ph.D. in Business Administration and over 30 years of experience in business, teaching, and consulting. Within the Water and Wastewater industry he has facilitated over 25 strategic plans, succession plans, Board governance systems and other management consulting interventions. Dr. Bienati will begin his work in April by interviewing each of the Board Members separately. Dr. Bienati will be arranging the Board interviews the first week of April and will forward questions for your consideration and preparation. The Board Priorities Workshop will be held following those interviews on May 21. A second workshop may be held if the Board desires. The purpose of the Board Priorities Workshop is for the Board to discuss major issues affecting the District such as capital project financing, paying down the unfunded actuarial accrued liability (UAAL), rate setting, staffing, succession planning, water recycling, technology improvements, regulations, community relations, public outreach, political activity, etc. Also, this workshop is an opportunity for each Board Member to discuss what Additional Written Announcements April 4, 2013 Page 2 of 2 they think the District's priorities should be for the near and long term. These discussions will lead to goals and outcomes that staff will use in preparing strategic and business plans for the District. In addition, the Board will review the District's current mission statement and goals, and suggest revisions as appropriate. Source Control e) Recent Inspection of District's Source Control Program Conducted by PG Environmental on Behalf of San Francisco Bay RWQCB and USEPA to Assess Compliance with Federal Pretreatment Standards The District's Source Control Program is periodically evaluated by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), or a contractor working for these agencies (e.g. Tetra Tech, PG Environmental) in order to assess compliance with the federal pretreatment standards. These standards are established under the Clean Water Act and are found in 40 CFR Part 403. Two levels of evaluation are performed: Pretreatment Compliance Audit (PCA) and Pretreatment Compliance Inspection (PCI). In general, a PCA is a more comprehensive evaluation than a PCI and involves a review of an agency's sewer use ordinance (e.g. the District's Source Control Ordinance). The objective is to evaluate approved pretreatment programs at least annually at the PCI level and complete a PCA approximately once every five years. PG Environmental completed a PCI of the District's pretreatment program on March 25- 26, 2013. Two staff from the State Water Resources Control Board ( SWRCB) participated on the second day. The PCI is structured with the auditors using a questionnaire provided by USEPA to assess the District's pretreatment program core elements, file review, field inspections to permitted Industrial Users (IUs), and an exit interview. The PCI team reviewed the files for three IUs: Acme Fill, Benchmark Electronics, and Systron Donner - Inertial Division. Field visits were completed for all of these IUs on March 26, 2013. Based on the information received during the PCI and exit interview, the PCI team and SWRCB staff were impressed with the District's regulation of the permitted IUs based on the field inspections and they did not identify any significant omissions or problems with the files maintained for these IUs. In addition, no significant findings were identified with the District's pretreatment program core elements. The PCI report has historically taken many months to receive but the SWRCB staff stated they are working with the RWQCB Pretreatment Program Coordinators to be more timely in turning around the reports received by the contract auditors. Based on this effort, the PCI report may be available in about two months.