Document KRj3n1o3MwxB9q54Vrx9xMqJ6

NPDES Compliance Inspection Report Granite Creek Quarry Lease Area 2, 3, & 7 Sitka, Alaska NPDES Tracking Number: AKR06AE30 Inspection Date: 6/3/2024 Prepared by: CJ Langlois U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 Enforcement & Compliance Assurance Division Water Enforcement & Field Branch Field, Data & Drinking Water Enforcement Section Inspector Signature/Date: Langlois, Curmit Digitally signed by Langlois, Curmit Date: 2025.02.04 09:18:40 -08'00' Supervisor Signature/Date: Contreras, Peter Digitally signed by Contreras, Peter Date: 2025.02.04 09:46:38 -08'00' Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Contents I. Facility Information .................................................................................... 3 II. Inspection Information ............................................................................. 4 III. Permit Information ................................................................................... 4 IV. Enforcement Background........................................................................... 5 V. Inspection Chronology.............................................................................. 5 VI. Opening Conference. ...................................................................................................6 VII. Laboratory Inspection. .................................................................................................6 VIII. Site Review ................................................................................................ 7 VII. File Review................................................................................................. 8 IX. Areas of Concern.....................................................................................................8 X. Closing Conference...............................................................................................9 Attachment A - Site Map Attachment B - Photographs 2 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 [Unless otherwise noted, all details in this inspection report were obtained from conversations with Mr. Tyler Cropley and Mr. Ralph Vigilante, a review of facility documents, and/or from observations made during the inspection.] I. Facility Information Facility Name: Granite Creek Quarry Facility Owner/Operator: Operator - Colaska dba Secon Owner - Colaska dba Secon Physical Address: 400 Granite Creek #7 Sitka, Alaska 99835 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 18 Sitka, Alaska 99835 Lat/Long: 57.1046286 N, -135.3873935 W Facility Contacts: Tyler Cropley, Project Engineer Granite Creek Quarry - Secon Cell: (907) 738-0763 Direct: (907) 747-8514 Email: tcropley@colaska.com Ralph Vigilante, Project Manager (no longer employed at facility) Granite Creek Quarry Cell: n/a Email: n/a Permit Number: AKR06AE30 SIC Code: Receiving Water: 2951 - (Asphalt Paving Mixtures and Blocks) Granite Creek (3 outfalls) 3 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 II. Inspection Information Inspection Date: June 3, 2024 Inspectors: CJ Langlois EPA Region 10, ECAD / WEFB / FDDWES Phone: 206-553-2739 Arrival Time: 12:45 p.m. Departure Time: 2:50 p.m. Weather: Cloudy, 49 F Purpose: To evaluate compliance with the requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (APDES) permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity in Alaska. III. Permit Information On February 20, 2020, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (APDES) permit under the Multi-Sector General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity Permit (MSGP). This facility falls under Sector D1, J1, and J2, of the permit for facilities in the state of the Alaska, general permit #AKR060000. The facility submitted their NOI (Notice of Intent) in time and was approved to discharge on January 24, 2024. The permit became effective on April 1, 2020, and will expire on March 31, 2025. 4 of 18 IV. Enforcement Background Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 On October 15, 2019, the facility received an NOV (Notice of Violation) from the ADEC for the following reasons: 1. "The permittee failed to maintain information to support the claim of `inactive and unstaffed' to exclude Secon from the required benchmark sampling." 2. "The permittee failed to maintain records within the SWPPP associated with the periods active and inactive time." 3. "The permittee failed to maintain information to support the claim of `inactive and unstaffed' to exclude Secon from the required routine inspection and quarterly visual assessments." 4. "The permittee failed to conduct annual comprehensive site inspections indicating that the site is inactive and unstaffed." 5. "The permittee failed to monitor, or submit annually results for 2017 and 2018 effluent limits. There is not a waiver for inactive and unstaffed facilities." 6. "The permittee failed to submit a 2016, 2017 & 2018 Annual Reports." After following up with the permittee and ADEC's website, it was learned that the facility has since addressed the forementioned violations to the satisfaction of the state and the NOV has been closed. The two "Single Event Violations" listed in ICIS were addressed with the state. V. Inspection Chronology This was an unannounced inspection. On June 3, 2024, I arrived at the facility at 12:45 p.m. The site is quite large and I eventually located the office building where I met and introduced myself to Tyler Cropley and Ralph Vigilante. I explained the purpose of my visit and the scope of my inspection to the gentlemen. I then presented my credentials to Mr. Cropley and Mr. 5 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Vigilante and provided my business card, along with a Small Business Administration (SBA) form to them. I started off with an opening conference inside of the office building. They both answered all my questions and I was not denied access to any area of the facility. The inspection at the facility lasted until approximately 2:50 p.m. VI. Opening Conference The corporation that runs Granite Creek Quarry is Colaska. Colaska is the largest mining company in the state of Alaska. They also run hot mix asphalt plants throughout the state. Granite Creek Quarry is located on the northwest side of Sitka, Alaska. The facility/site consists of 3 leased areas of land from the City and Borough of Sitka. During the time of my inspection, lease area 7 (the CMI Asphalt Plant) was not in operation and was in a maintenance only status. Lease Area 7 was acquired by the facility in 2016 and by April 2017, the facility was fully staffed. The asphalt plant was last in operation in October of 2023. When the asphalt plant is in operation, approximately 8 fulltime workers are employed onsite. Lease Areas 2 & 3 were being used for exploratory mining and blasting operations. These areas of leased land produce the aggregates necessary for asphalt production. Colaska did not acquire the lease rights to Lease Areas 2 & 3 until November of 2023. The facility covers approximately 15.4 acres of land where industrial activity is exposed to stormwater. There are 3 outfalls that ultimately lead to Granite Creek and 1 outfall that leads to a settling pond. The facility is approximately 180 feet away from Granite Creek at its closest point. VII. Laboratory Inspection Mr. Vigilante and Mr. Cropley were responsible for conducting inspections at the time of my inspection. Admiralty Environmental (contractor) conducted any monitoring at the facility. Samples are sent to the lab at Admiralty Environmental in Juneau, Alaska. The facility monitors for TSS, pH, and Oil & Grease. There recently has been 1 benchmark exceedance for TSS (3x the limit) in December of 2024 and there have been 2 late (approximately 1 month) submittals for TSS in December of 2022 and 2023. Corrective actions 6 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 are not necessary for single TSS benchmark exceedances, but rather for "average benchmark exceedance". It should be noted that the facility has met the requirements for having the average benchmark below limits for samples 2023 of Q2 through 2024 of Q1. VIII. Site Review Mr. Cropley and Mr. Vigilante led me on a tour of the facility. Site maps appear in Attachment A and a photograph log appears in Attachment B. Granite Creek Quarry has two main operations occuring at the facility. On Lease Areas 2 & 3, the facility drills (Photo 1), blasts, and extracts aggregate. The facility plans on moving/extracting approximately 75,000 cubic yards of material in the next 2 - 3 years of time. Drilling and blasting activities are conducted by third parties and by Colaska employees. The facility also utilizes a cone crusher to process materials on site. Surplus aggregate is stockpiled on site and hauled off & used as necessary. The facility also includes an asphalt hot mix plant on site at Lease Area 7. The plant includes a mixer, a batch hopper to load trucks, mobile asphalt tanks (Photo 2), a control house, a quality control lab, and stockpiles of aggregate for the production of asphalt. At the time of my inspection, the asphalt plant was in a maintenance only status and was not in operation. The large majority of the site grounds are composed of aggregate and crushed aggregate. No permanent fuel storage will be constructed on site and mobile equipment is removed during the off season. The facility does store asphalt oil in double-walled tanks and also stores modified fuel (burner oil) (Photo 3) in a tank when the asphalt plant is in operation. For stormwater, the facility utilizes a series of check dams (Photos 4 & 5) and settling ponds (Photo 6) before outfalls (Photos 7 & 8) to reduce flow velocity and to settle out suspended solids. The naturally occuring gravel and vegetation on the facility grounds slows the flow of stormwater and allows it to infiltrate the ground. Gravel berms are also used to direct and slow flow. BMPs appeared to be well maintained and effective during the time of my inspection. 7 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 IX. File Review I reviewed the following records: Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) - September 14, 2023 Authorization to Discharge (Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation) - January 24, 2024 Corrective Actions (self-assessed) - April & May 2024 Annual Report - September 18, 2023 Monitoring Report from Admiralty Environmental - March 25, 2024 Monitoring Report from Admiralty Environmental (Just for CMI Asphalt Plant) -December 7, 2023 DMRs - 10/15/2023 & 1/15/2024 Notice of Termination (NOT) for prior permittee (AKR06C001) of Lease Areas 2 & 3 - December 2023 X. Areas of Concern 1. Section 9.1 of the permit states "All monitoring data collected pursuant to Parts 7.2 must be submitted to DEC using the NetDMR system (Part 9.8.1 EReporting Rule for DMR (Phase I)) (unless a waiver from electronic reporting has been granted, in which case you may submit a paper DMR form) no later than the 15th day of the following month after the permittee has received the complete laboratory results for all monitored outfalls for the reporting period. If a waiver from electronic reporting has been granted, paper reporting forms (DMR as provided in Appendix F) must be submitted by the deadline to the appropriate address identified in Part 9.6. 8 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 For benchmark monitoring, note that the permittee is required to submit sampling results to DEC no later than the 15th day of the following month after receiving all laboratory results for each quarter that are required to collect benchmark samples, in accordance with Part 7.2.1.2. If a permittee collects multiple samples in a single quarter (e.g., due to adverse weather conditions, climates with irregular storm water runoff, or areas subject to snow), they are required to submit all sampling results to DEC no later than the 15th day of the following month after receiving all the laboratory results. If no discharge occurs during the benchmark monitoring period, the permittee must still report no discharge for this monitoring period." There recently have been 2 late (approximately 1 month) benchmark reporting submissions for TSS in December of 2022 and 2023. XI. Closing Conference A closing conference was held with Mr. Cropley and Mr. Vigilante on the afternoon of June 3, 2024. I stated that no obvious areas of concern were identified over the course of the inspection and gave a brief overview of the post-inspection process. I thanked them for their time and assistance. 9 of 18 Attachment A Aerial Photo Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Figure 1 - Aerial photo taken from facility SWPPP 10 of 18 Attachment B Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Facility Photographs (Photographs were taken by CJ Langlois with an Olympus Tough Camera TG-6) Photo 1 - Drilling and blasting area 11 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 2 - Mobile asphalt tank 12 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 3 - MFO Unit with burner oil 13 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 4 - Check dams 14 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 5 - Check dam 15 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 6 - settling pond 16 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 7 - Outfall 003 17 of 18 Granite Creek Quarry #AKR06AE30 Photo 8 - Outfall 002 18 of 18