Document ExJLnpMJ3qYJR7a5xDqo10d8R

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION III 1650 Arch Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-2029 Report Title: Inspection Date(s): Regulatory Program(s): Type of Activity: Site/Facility Name: Permittee(s): Site/Facility Owner: Site/Facility Operator: Site/Facility Address: Latitude: County/Parish: Permit Number: NAICS Code: Unique Project #: Clean Water Act Compliance Inspection Report 09/20/2022 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Cress Run Farm CAFO Arlin Weaver Arlin Weaver Arlin Weaver 201 Bullshead Road Newville, PA 17241 40.158829 Longitude: -77.447450 Cumberland County, PA PAG123911 121210 SIC: 0213 3E22WN104A Site/Facility Representative(s): Arlin Weaver Phone: (717) 448-1586 Email: cressrunfarm@gmail.com Point of Contact EPA Inspectors: Mark Zolandz Phone: (215) 814-2319 Email: zolandz.mark@epa.gov State/Local Inspectors: Bill Severs, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Phone: (717) 705-4790 Email: wsevers@pa.gov Report Preparer Signature/Date MARK ZOLANDZ Digitally signed by MARK ZOLANDZ Date: 2022.11.08 12:13:51 -05'00' Mark Zolandz, NPDES Section 11/8/2022 Date Supervisor Signature/Date STACIE PRATT Digitally signed by STACIE PRATT Date: 2022.11.08 11:44:44 -05'00' Stacie Pratt, Chief, Water Branch 11/8/2022 Date Unique Project#: 3E21WN104A Cress Run Farm CAFO 09/20/2022 Table of Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 3 A. Inspection Opening Conference ....................................................................................... 3 B. Weather and Precipitation Conditions.............................................................................. 4 C. Summary of the Site/Facility............................................................................................ 4 II. Site/Facility Activity ................................................................................................................. 4 III. Observations ............................................................................................................................. 4 IV. Records Review ........................................................................................................................ 6 V. Closing Conference.................................................................................................................... 7 Attachment A: Attachment B: Attachment C: Attachment D: List of Attachments Facility Maps Photograph Log EPA CAFO Inspection Checklist NPDES General Permit PAG123911 Unique Project #: 3E22WN104A Page 2 of 7 Cress Run Farm CAFO 09/20/2022 I. Introduction On September 20, 2022, an inspection team composed of staff from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") Region III and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") (hereinafter, "Inspection Team") conducted a CAFO Inspection of the Cress Run Farm CAFO site (hereinafter, "the facility"). The purpose of the inspection was to observe compliance with the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to verify compliance with the site's coverage under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. PAG123911 (hereinafter, the "Permit") and applicable State and Federal regulations. NPDES Permit PAG-12 is Pennsylvania's NPDES General Permit for Operation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. A. Inspection Opening Conference The Inspection Team arrived at the site at approximately 1:00 p.m. for the inspection. Inspectors met with the following site representatives: Name Mark Zolandz Arlin Weaver Bill Severs Table 1: Inspection Attendee List Affiliation Telephone Email EPA Region III Inspectors and Contractors EPA Region III (215) 814-2319 zolandz.mark@epa.gov Site/Facility Representatives Cress Run Farm (717) 448-0551 cressrunfarm@gmail.com State or County Representatives PADEP (717) 705-4790 wsevers@pa.gov Mark Zolandz displayed their credentials to Mr. Arlin Weaver at the outset of the inspection, and explained the purpose of the inspection was to assess the site's compliance with its NPDES Permit. A copy of the NPDES General Permit PAG123911 is provided in Attachment D. Unique Project #: 3E22WN104A Page 3 of 7 Cress Run Farm CAFO 09/20/2022 B. Weather and Precipitation Conditions During the inspection, the weather was sunny and warm. The nearest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service precipitation data for the date of the inspection and 5 days prior are provided in the Table 2 below: Station Name CARLISLE 7.2 SSW, PA US CARLISLE 7.2 SSW, PA US CARLISLE 7.2 SSW, PA US CARLISLE 7.2 SSW, PA US CARLISLE 7.2 SSW, PA US CARLISLE 7.2 SSW, PA US Table 2. Precipitation Data Date 09/15/2022 09/16/2022 09/17/2022 09/18/2022 09/19/2022 09/20/2022 Precipitation Amount (inches)1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 C. Summary of the Site/Facility The facility is a swine finishing operation located in Newville, Pennsylvania. The facility consists of two swine barns each with underbarn manure storage, a cattle barn, a bin composter, an in-vessel mortality composter, and feed bins located at the front of each of the swine barns. II. Site/Facility Activity The facility is a swine finishing operation that raises approximately 4,800 hogs at a time. Hogs are kept in two swine barns with a capacity of 2,400 hogs each. Hogs are brought to the facility at around 50-55 pounds. They are raised for approximately 157 days until they weigh around 280-290 pounds. The hogs are then picked up and taken away for slaughter and processing. Manure is collected in two underbarn manure storages. Mortalities are composted on-site in an in-vessel mortality composter. The Inspection Team conducted a walkthrough of the facility to determine compliance with the CAFO Permit requirements. The observations from the inspection are described below in the Observations section. Photographs were taken during the inspection by Mark Zolandz and are provided in Attachment B. III. Observations At the time of the inspection, the facility was raising approximately 4,800 swine >55 lbs and 1 cattle (680.12 AEUs). The facility is permitted for 4,800 swine (10-28 weeks old), 6 beef finishing cattle (8-24 months old), and 6 beef calves (0-8 months old) (680.12 AEUs). 1 Source: NOAA National Climatic Data Center (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/). Unique Project #: 3E22WN104A Page 4 of 7 Cress Run Farm CAFO 09/20/2022 Barn 1 (Attachment B, Photographs 2-3) has a capacity of 2,400 hogs. Feed is stored in feed bins located at the front of Barn 1. Manure from the hogs falls through a slotted floor into a single underbarn manure storage. The underbarn manure storage has a pump out at each of the front corners of Barn 1 (Attachment B, Photographs 4-6). Observation #1: The Barn 1 underbarn manure storage does not have permanent depth marker (Attachment B, Photograph 6). Mr. Weaver says that he measures depth using a tape measurer. Observation #2: At the time of the inspection, Barn 1 manure storage had approximately 1 foot of freeboard (Attachment B, Photograph 6). Mr. Weaver's records indicate 1 foot of freeboard as of 9/19/2022 (Attachment B, Photograph 31). Mr. Weaver said that the facility has around 11-12 months of storage. Mr. Weaver said that the Barn 1 manure storage was pumped in November 2021 and he will likely have to pump and land apply next month in October 2022, just short of 12 months/ 1 year of storage. Observation #3: Barn 1 manure storage has a leak detection system with a discharge pipe located to the northwest of Barn 1 (Attachment B, Photograph 20). At the time of the inspection, the leak detection system outlet pipe was not discharging (Attachment B, Photographs 21). Barn 2 (Attachment B, Photograph 8) has a capacity of 2,400 hogs. Feed is stored in feed bins located at the front of Barn 2. Manure from the hogs falls through a slotted floor into a single underbarn manure storage. The underbarn manure storage has a pump out at each of the front corners of Barn 2 (Attachment B, Photographs 9-11). Observation #4: The Barn 2 underbarn manure storage does not have permanent depth marker (Attachment B, Photograph 11). Mr. Weaver says that he measures depth using a tape measurer. Observation #5: At the time of the inspection, Barn 2 manure storage had approximately 3 feet of freeboard (Attachment B, Photograph 11). Mr. Weaver's records indicate 3.6 feet of freeboard as of 9/19/2022 (Attachment B, Photograph 32). Observation #6: Barn 2 manure storage has a leak detection system with a discharge pipe located to the northeast of Barn 2 (Attachment B, Photographs 13-14) along with a stormwater outlet pipe. At the time of the inspection, the leak detection system outlet pipe was not discharging (Attachment B, Photographs 15). The facility has a bin composter located north of Barn 1 (Attachment B, Photograph 19). Observation #7: There were small amounts of mortality compost in the roofed composting bins (Attachment B, Photograph 19). Mr. Weaver stated that the bin composter is no longer in use. Mr. Weaver stated that mortality composting is now done in the in-vessel composter. The facility has an in-vessel composter located next to a barn to the northwest of Barn 1 (Attachment B, Photographs 23-24). Mr. Weaver stated that mortalities are placed in the in-vessel Unique Project #: 3E22WN104A Page 5 of 7 Cress Run Farm CAFO 09/20/2022 composter along with straw. Mr. Weaver stated that it takes approximately 48 hours to fully compost a market-sized hog. Mr. Weaver said that the finished compost is land applied. Observation #8: The finished compost is stored in the barn under roof (Attachment B, Photograph 24). The facility has a cattle barn and is permitted for up to 12 dairy-beef cattle: 6 beef calf (0-8 months old) and 6 beef finishing (8-24 months old). At the time of the inspection, Mr. Weaver stated that only 1 cattle remains on site in the cattle barn. Mr. Weaver said that this cattle is expected to be removed within the month, and Mr. Weaver did not expect that the facility would be raising cattle anymore. At the time of the inspection, there was no observed flow in the unnamed tributary to Bulls Head Branch (Attachment B, Photograph 25). Mr. Weaver said that water is only present in the unnamed tributary after large rain events. At the time of the inspection, there was flow in Bulls Head Branch (Attachment B, Photograph 26). IV. Records Review During the inspection, the Inspection Team requested and/or reviewed the Facility's nutrient management plan (NMP), land-application records (Attachment B, Photographs 27-30), CAFO self-inspection reports (Attachment B, Photographs 30-42), manure test results, soil test results, and agricultural erosion and sediment control plans (Ag E&S Plans) and conservation plans. Observation #9: The facility's NMP was not available on-site at the time of the inspection. It is unknown whether the facility's NMP meets the requirements. Observation #10: The facility's Ag E&S Plan/ Conservation Plan was not available onsite at the time of the inspection. It is unknown whether the facility's E&S Plan/ Conservation Plan meet the requirements. Observation #11: The facility's 2023-2025 NMP identifies a Roofed HUA at the back of Barn 1 which was not present at the time of the inspection. Observation #12: It is unknown whether the facility's current NMP contains a determination of adequate manure storage capacity for the winter period since it was not available on-site. Observation #13: The facility's 2023-2025 NMP states that the underbarn manure storages need to be drawn down prior to December 15th to allow 195,300 gallons of storage for each barn for winter. The facility's 2023-2025 NMP did not identify the freeboard needed as of December 15th that corresponds to this volume of storage. Unique Project #: 3E22WN104A Page 6 of 7 Cress Run Farm CAFO 09/20/2022 Observation #14: The facility was permitted effective April 1, 2021, and DEP did not require an Annual Report to be submitted for Crop Year 2021. The facility will be required to submit an Annual Report for Crop Year 2022 that covers from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. Observation #15: The CAFO General Self-Inspection Report form was blank for "Production Area Inspection Date" and Problems Identified." V. Closing Conference After the facility inspection, the Inspection Team met with the site representatives for a closing conference. The Inspection Team shared preliminary observations with the site representatives. The EPA inspector also requested that the facility provide copies of the following documents to EPA that were not available on-site: Crop Year 2022 NMP Crop Year 2023 NMP Ag E&S Plan/ Conservation Plan PPC Plan The inspection concluded at approximately 3:00 p.m. Unique Project #: 3E22WN104A Page 7 of 7