Susan-
The questions posed in your third paragraph below will be replied to separately when I address your questions about the completeness of PRR Hansen 4596.
DEQ does consider the out of season discharge to the Molalla river that the city reported in their May and June 2017 discharge monitoring reports to be a violation of the permit. DEQ has included this in the MAO that we are currently negotiating with the city.
The city decided on their own to conduct a third leak test. DEQ was informed of the test by the city’s legal counsel on July 25th. We received the report on August 7th. We are in the process of reviewing but due to other priority work have not completed that review yet.
Tiffany Yelton Bram
WQ Source Control Manager
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
700 NE Multnomah St., Suite #600
Portland OR 97232
Desk 503 229 5219
Mobile 503 975 0046
DEQ has a new website! Please update your bookmarks and check out the new site here: http://www.oregon.gov/deq/pages/index.aspx
From: Susan Hansen [mailto:foxglovefarm@inbox.com]
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2017 10:57 AM
To: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany; david.cole@state.or.us; DECONCINI Nina
Cc: Richard Whitman; jason.miner@oregon.gov
Subject: Questions about Molalla wastewater management/ draft PEN
Dear DEQ,
Questions raised about DEQ/ Molalla interactions:
Re: The draft PEN regarding June discharge into the Molalla River that came in our BCR PIR package. Why isn't May 22-June 1 discharge (noticed by Molalla's lawyer below in an email that was furnished to DEQ) part of the PEN? Is there another PEN on that discharge or is DEQ not considering that May 22-June 1 admitted discharge a violation?
I just read that Molalla is trying a different method to try to do another lagoon leak test. Has DEQ authorized a different method for Molalla to use? Has DEQ authorized another leak test of any kind - last I saw DEQ was asking for test well to prove whether or not the lagoons are leaking. If so, is there hard copy on any authorization for a different method lagoon leak test?
A May 11 exchange between Jeff Bachman and Tiffany Yelton-Bram notes that Molalla's proposed draft MAO is not acceptable and that DEQ would be responding with some kind of hard copy about the MAO. Did hard copy result - I found no revised DEQ MAO in my PIR package? How did DEQ express to the City of Molalla that the Molalla/Ring Bender MAO was not acceptable, since I did not find any hard copy to Molalla from DEQ regarding the MAO proposed by Molalla. DEQ mentions producing feedback - what kind of feedback was produced? If it was at the July 5 meeting there was no mention in any DEQ notes of DEQ's response. is there a new DEQ draft MAO that has been sent to Molalla (later than the March draft)? Has another meeting been scheduled? Does DEQ have a timeline/deadline for agreement?
Sincerely,
Susan Hansen
Bear Creek Recovery
From: "Mark P. Strandberg" <MStrandberg@ringbenderlaw.com>
Subject: BCR v. Molalla
Date: July 5, 2017 at 4:20:14 PM PDT
Cc: "J.W. Ring" <jwring@ringbenderlaw.com>, "dhuff@cityofmolalla.com" <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>, "Gerald Fisher (gfisher@cityofmolalla.com)" <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Maura:
We are writing this email to notify you that, due to the substantial rainfall this spring, the City of Molalla discharged fully treated wastewater to the Molalla River from May 22-June 1, and again from June 14-26. Because this was done to avoid overtopping the lagoons and the severe property and environmental damage that would follow, we believe this bypass does not constitute a violation of the permit, so the City will not be making a stipulated payment at this time. Should DEQ determine otherwise, a stipulated payment will be made and notification will be provided to you at that time.
Best,
Mark
|
| Mark P. Strandberg, Attorney Ring Bender LLP 621 SW Morrison Street, Suite 600, Portland, OR 97205 Tel: (503) 964-6730 Direct: (503) 964-6725 Mobile: (773) 606-9467 |
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