Document 15m506wpEYXvy0RQwObkoyXrZ

Region 6 - Enforcement & Compliance Assurance Division INSPECTION REPORT Inspection Date(s): Media Program: Regulatory Program(s) 05/12/2025 Water NPDES Company Name: Facility Name: Facility Physical Location: (city, state, zip code) Mailing address: (city, state, zip code) County/Parish: Facility Phone Number Facility Contact: City of Santa Rosa Santa Rosa Wastewater Treatment Plant 1700 North Rock Island Street Santa Rosa, New Mexico 244 S 4th St Santa Rosa, NM 88435-2323 Guadalupe 575-799-8007 Onofre Cordova Public Works Director ocordova@srnm.org FRS Number: Identification/Permit Number: Media Identifier Number: NAICS: SIC: 110006702899 NM0024988 NA 221320 4952 Personnel participating in inspection: Onofre Cordova City of Santa Rosa David Esparza R6-ECDWM Public Works Director Environmental Engineer EPA Lead Inspector Signature/Date DAVID ESPARZA Date: 2025.06.23 11:01:21 -06'00' Digitally signed by DAVID ESPARZA David Esparza Date Supervisor Signature/Date ROBERTO BERNIER Roberto Bernier Digitally signed by ROBERTO BERNIER Date: 2025.06.24 08:50:48 -05'00' Date 6ENFORM-020-R8.2 (02/12/2020) 1 City of Santa Rosa WWTP Permit No. NM0024988 Inspection Date 05/12/2025 Section I - INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF THE INSPECTION EPA Region 6 inspector David Esparza, PE arrived at the City of Santa Rosa Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) (Santa Rosa) at approximately 2:30 PM on May 12, 2025, for an unannounced inspection. I spoke to Mr. Onofre Cordova, Wastewater Superintendent via telephone as he was unavailable and verbalized to him that this was an EPA inspection to determine the Santa Rosa WWTP's compliance under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This compliance evaluation inspection (CEI) was conducted under the authority of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, in accordance with the CWA. The generation of this report is based on information supplied by, observations made by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) inspector, and records and reports maintained by the permittee (Santa Rosa), and the US EPA. Before leaving the facility, an exit briefing was held with City of Santa Rosa representative Mr. Onofre Cordova to explain areas of concern noted at the time of the inspection. FACILITY DESCRIPTION The existing WWTP was constructed from 2011 to 2013 and is a minor discharger with a design flow of 0.667 MGD (million gallons per day) and an average influent flow of 0.35 MGD (350,000-gallon per day). The facility is located South along New Mexico State Road 91 (SR-91 and James Walls Power Dam Park, Santa Rosa, Guadalupe County, New Mexico (depicted in Aerial Image #1 below). The facility serves a population of approximately 2,800 residents and is operated by staff within the Public Works Department consisting of 2 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, during the hours of 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM five (5) days during the regular work week. On-call staff is available on an as needed basis and weekends. Aerial Image #1: Overall view of the City of Santa Rosa Wastewater Treatment Plant 2 City of Santa Rosa WWTP Permit No. NM0024988 Inspection Date 05/12/2025 An older pond based (aerated lagoons and settling ponds) treatment facility was removed in 2011. The WWTP is operated in a nitrification-denitrification (NDN) mode for the removal of nitrogen to meet effluent discharge requirements and provide beneficial use of reclaimed wastewater for parks and golf courses using the process, which is a form of conventional biological nutrient removal activated sludge process. The WWTP components include a headworks (mechanical fine screen and grit removal), primary lift station, Medium Rate Activated Sludge (MRAS) aeration basins, splitter boxes, secondary clarifiers, aerobic digesters, UV disinfection, a blower/pump building and concrete sludge drying beds. There is also an onsite stormwater pond that collects the site's stormwater flows and pumps them into the headworks for treatment processing. After the treatment process, the treated effluent is discharged into El Rito Creek, approximately 500 feet above the confluence with the Pecos River. The WWTP is an influent gravity flow system with the assistance of six (6) lift stations (LS) (Identified in Table 1 below), thence into the automatic bar screen and a grinder for large solid removal. A second channel is available with a manual bar screen. Following the bar screens are a set of three (3) pumps that lift the sewage to the aeration basins. The pumps are triggered by floats that sense the water level. The solids removed from the screens are dried and after passing the paint filter test, transported, and disposed of at the City of Tucumcari landfill. The liquid waste is sent to one (1) of two (2) oxidation ditch extended air treatment units. Fine bubble diffusers at the bottom of the basins, provide aeration. The basin is cycled through an aerated phase and an anoxic phase. Mixers are located approximately five (5) feet from the bottom of the basin. Following the oxidation ditches are two (2) secondary clarifiers. Solids are wasted from the bottom of the clarifier to the aerobic digester. Return activated sludge (RAS) is sent back to the head of the treatment plant. Decant from the secondary clarifier is sent to the ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system, consisting of dual parallel channels. Following disinfection is an effluent flow meter, Parshall flume with staff gauge, and an ultrasonic sensor that records the totalized flow. Table 1: City of Santa Rosa Lift Stations Lift Station Name Location Comments/Status River Road River Road and Black Street Operational Bob's 66 Historic Route 66 and River Side Drive Operational Carolina River Side Dr and Barela Road Operational- proposed to be upgraded in 2023 2nd Street 2nd St and Corona Ave. Operational. No fencing but locked hatchway Golf Course Chuck and Dale Lane. Operational Assisted Living Bluehole Road and Reilly Road. Operational. No fencing but locked hatchway Note: Only the Golf Course LS has portable back-up (generator) power capability. The portable generator is exercised weekly. All LSs have audible alarms and flashing lights. In the event of a local power outage, an emergency generator at the WWTP is exercised weekly to operate the facility. This enables the WWTP to continue the treatment process through gravity flow, unabated. The WWTP maintains a discharge permit (DP-665) issued by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), Groundwater Quality Bureau (GWQB) that allows a discharge up to 0.670 MGD. 3 City of Santa Rosa WWTP Permit No. NM0024988 Inspection Date 05/12/2025 Currently the one (1) industrial use (IU) discharger, is the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility, located at south Hwy 54 exit 3B Santa Rosa NM 88435 (Appendix 2 Guadalupe County Correctional Facility Service Agreement). Section II - OBSERVATIONS I observed or the following was stated: Currently, Santa Rosa is in the process of preparing written policies and procedures to address potential sanitary sewer overflow events (SSOs) and maintains minimal standard operating procedures (SOPs) pertaining to facility operations and maintenance (O&M), in conjunction with their participation in the EPA Office of Compliance (OC) compliance Advisor Program (CAP). The city does not have a Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) program, though an annual FOG test at the treatment plant is performed. However, the local restaurants, schools, senior center and prison have installed grease traps A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system provides around the clock monitoring of WWTP operations. The City was issued an Administrative Order (AO), Docket Number: CWA-06-2023-1725 on January 12, 2023, signifying the facility had exceeded permitted effluent limitations for the period February 2020 through September 30, 2022. Additionally, the AO specified that, "within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this Order, Respondent shall submit a list of the specific actions taken to correct the E. coli violations". Staffing- initially at the time of the inspection (May 12, 2025)- no operators or WWTP personnel were available. This aspect necessitated the telephone conversation follow-up. The overall housekeeping of the WWTP of the grounds and ancillary appurtenances appeared to be well maintained and in operational order. The previous exceptions or operations/maintenance issues of the scum box, aeration basin and the visible overflow debris inside the pump room were discussed. Mr. Cordova stated during the recent telephone conversation that the previously observed non-operational scum box inside the southside clarifier had been cleaned, and the nonworking pump had been replaced with their back-up pump. The previously provided "draft" Service Agreement with the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility circa January 1998 has not been updated. The WWTP did have secure perimeter fencing and lighting; thus, limiting access. Section III - AREAS OF CONCERN A review of the ICIS database for the period from November 30, 2022, to August 31, 2024 (Appendix 1) indicates NPDES permit excursions. 4 City of Santa Rosa WWTP Permit No. NM0024988 Inspection Date 05/12/2025 A review of the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) indicates several NPDES permit single event violations Escherichia coli (E coli) (November 2022), (July and August 2023) and (June, July and August 2024). I conducted a closing conference via telephone with at City of Santa Rosa WWTP for the inspection. Section IV - RECOMMENDATIONS Review and update the Service Agreement with the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility- the provided copy circa January 1998 was "draft" agreement. Additional certified facility staff to assist in the day-to-day operations and to address potential absence due to illness or personal time off (PTO) issues. Section V - FOLLOW UP The no additional information was received by EPA after exiting the Facility on May 12, 2025. Section V - LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1 - Review of the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) Database for the period from November 30, 2022, to August 31, 2024. Appendix 2 - "Draft" Guadalupe County Correctional Facility Service Agreement 5 City of Santa Rosa WWTP Permit No. NM0024988 Inspection Date 05/12/2025 Appendix 1 Review of the ICIS database for the period from November 30, 2022, to August 31, 2024 NM0024988 SANTA ROSA, CITY OF (MAIN STP) Monitoring Period End Date 11/30/2022 11/30/2022 07/31/2023 07/31/2023 08/31/2023 08/31/2023 06/30/2024 06/30/2024 07/31/2024 08/31/2024 Parameter Desc E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli E. coli Statistical Base Short Desc 30DAVGEO DAILY MX 30DAVGEO DAILY MX 30DAVGEO DAILY MX 30DAVGEO DAILY MX DAILY MX DAILY MX Limit Unit Short Desc Limit Value CFU/100126. CFU/100410. CFU/100126. CFU/100410. CFU/100126. CFU/100410. CFU/100126. CFU/100410. CFU/100410. CFU/100410. DMR Value 1859.62 16000. 311.71 2400. 586.66 3500. 230.75 1700. 920. 540. City of Santa Rosa WWTP Permit No. NM0024988 Inspection Date 05/12/2025 Appendix 2 "Draft" Guadalupe County Correctional Facility Service Agreement