Animal Waste Management Facilities that are located in Bertie, Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Johnson, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Wayne and Wilson Counties and that had qualifying adverse affects from the heavy rains and flooding from Hurricanes Dennis and/or Floyd, may qualify to be operated under the following emergency procedures until December 31, 1999.
Facilities that can currently comply with their existing permit and Certified Animal Waste Management Plan (CAWMP) must do so. This will likely require a higher level of system management.
If a facility cannot comply with its current permit and CAWMP, it is authorized to operate under emergency waste utilization procedures approved by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as described below. The facility must submit to the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) an Emergency Strategy for the operation of the waste management system by no later than October 31, 1999. This Strategy must be documented on forms supplied by DWQ and must include the following:
A commitment to remove as much of the waste as economically practicable to another facility that can adequately handle the additional waste.
A commitment to restock animals removed from the facility only to the level at which the facility can comply with its permit and its CAWMP. Removed animals include both mortalities and animals routinely cycled out of the facility for either processing or transfer to another location to continue their growth cycle. In extreme cases, this may require complete depopulation of the facility.
A commitment to operate the system in a manner such that there is not a discharge to the surface waters of the state.
A commitment to maximize the use of the current cropping system as specified in its CAWMP.
A provision for the temporary addition of new land application sites (including forestry sites) as long as these sites meet the criteria necessary to qualify to receive future approval under the facility's CAWMP.
A provision for the addition of new crops as long as these crops meet the criteria necessary to qualify to receive future approval under the facility's CAWMP.
A provision for extending nitrogen application to summer perennials such as coastal bermuda grass up until the first frost. An application of up to 50 pounds of Plant Available Nitrogen (PAN) per acre will be allowable during this extended time period.
A provision for the application of up to 100 pounds PAN per acre for winter grasses and small grains.
A provision for the application of up to 100 pounds of PAN on hardwood trees and up to 60 pounds per acre of PAN on pine trees until December 31, 1999.
Facilities that operate under an Emergency Strategy must continue to comply with all other conditions of its permit and its CAWMP (including record keeping, required buffers, etc.) for all requirements other than those listed above.
Facilities that operate under this Emergency Strategy are required to continue to comply with all applicable surface water and groundwater standards.
Prior to January 31, 2000, the facility shall submit a report to DWQ documenting their actions while operating under the Emergency Strategy. This report shall include a map showing all areas on which waste was land applied, the application methods and documentation of the land application events on the forms currently used by the facility to record land application activities.
Facilities which cannot operate in compliance with either their permit and CAWMP or this Emergency Strategy are required to remove animals from the facility to a level at which they can comply with one of these options. In extreme cases this may require the complete depopulation of the facility.
While this Policy also applies to facilities which had not adequately managed their lagoon storage capacity prior to Hurricane Dennis, this does not preclude the DENR from initiating appropriate enforcement actions for these noncompliant facilities. Each facility will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and appropriate enforcement actions will be initiated for these violations.
Governor Hunt and DENR very strongly encourage facilities that qualify for coverage under this Emergency Strategy to request coverage. Every effort will be made to work with these owners and operators. Facilities that do not request coverage and that are found to be in violation of their permits and/or CAWMPs will be subject to appropriate State enforcement actions including but not limited to civil penalties, criminal penalties and injunctions.
This Emergency Strategy will remain in place until December 31, 1999 or until superceded by a modified policy from DENR.
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