Groups Contact State, Recommend Ways Alcoa Can Mitigate Water Contaminants – The Stanly News & Press

Groups contact state and recommend ways for Alcoa to mitigate water contaminants

Posted 9:53 a.m. on Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Concerned about Alcoa’s on-site hazardous waste, which continues to seep into nearby waters of Badin, several groups recently wrote to the Water Resources Division of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) of the North Carolina on ways the organization could improve.

The actions come as the site, now known as Badin Business Park (BPP), recently reapplied for its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which expires at the end of October. Companies like Alcoa are required to reapply every five years, according to DEQ spokeswoman Anna Gurney.

Protect Badin Lake, which was established in 2020 and has over 200 members on its mailing list, asked the NCDEQ to not only deny Alcoa’s NPDES permit renewal as submitted, but also to remove three bullet points. release around Badin Lake, due to human health impacts. The August 16 letter, which was shared with The Stanly News & Press, was written by Jennifer Caldwell and Colleen McDaniel, co-chairs of PBL.

Elevated levels of cyanide and fluoride have been routinely detected in stormwater draining from Alcoa through an outfall known as Outfall 005, potentially contaminating Little Mountain Creek and then flowing into more large bodies of water, including Lake Tillery.

“PBL is extremely concerned about the water quality of our recreational water bodies, including Lake Badin and Lake Tillery,” the letter reads.

People can be exposed to cyanide by “breathing it in, absorbing it through the skin, or eating foods that contain it,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Small amounts of cyanide can cause dizziness, headaches, nausea and vomiting, and rapid breathing, while large amounts can cause respiratory failure resulting in death. Exposure to high levels of fluoride could lead to tooth decay.

In its letter, PBL also requested the removal of Outfall 012 and Outfall 013, as both are near public bathing areas.

“If you care about people’s health, swimming and fishing, and even aquatic life, that’s not appropriate at all,” Caldwell said.

The group played a key role in pressuring the NCDEQ to deny a proposed Special Consent Order last February that, if passed, would have allowed Alcoa to divert contaminants from Outfall 5, which flows into Little Mountain Creek, to another location, which would flow directly into Badin Lake. . DEQ received more than 300 public comments regarding Alcoa’s SOC application.

Although Alcoa’s permit application will not divert outlet 005 to Badin Lake, it will continue to impact Tillery Lake downstream.

“Lake Tillery is the primary source of drinking water for Montgomery County, where most of our members live,” the letter states.

“Our issues haven’t changed much,” Caldwell said. “We want the lake to be clean and the only way to guarantee the lake is clean is to clean up the mess.”

Robyn Gross, director of Alcoa Transformation/Asset Planning & Management, provided The SNAP with an emailed statement regarding the permit renewal.

“Our water quality license requires us to carefully monitor stormwater and groundwater discharges at many locations in Badin Business Park,” she said. “The site has largely complied with state and federal regulations. Fluoride releases to an outfall sometimes exceed state standards, but releases remain well below the EPA drinking water threshold. We will continue to work to further reduce the concentration of fluoride releases in this area.

“Badin Business Park is committed to continuing to protect water quality,” she added. “The site is managed to protect the local community and the environment.”

Ryke Longest, co-director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Duke University, wrote a letter on behalf of Yadkin Riverkeeper, expressing concerns similar to those raised by PBL.

In addition to eliminating outfalls 012 and 013 and preventing Alcoa from diverting discharges from outfall 005 to Little Mountain Creek, Longest recommends that the new permit require Alcoa to monitor more contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and metals. .

The company must also remove the source material of the pollutants before submitting any permit applications in the future.

Alcoa opened its aluminum smelter in Badin in 1917, and the company dumped waste — particularly spent pot liners, a byproduct of smelting — without regulation until 1980, when the EPA established the first regulation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act declaring used pot liners as hazardous waste.

Although Alcoa closed its Badin operation in 2010, the spent tank liner remains buried in the ground.

“Implementation of our recommendations would ensure better protection of Badin Lake and Little Mountain Creek, as well as public confidence in efforts to clean up hazardous waste around Alcoa Badin Works,” Duke’s letter states.

The group Concerned Citizens of West Badin, made up of several former Alcoa workers, also sent recommendations to the DEQ, including the removal of the hazardous material.

“NC DEQ has issued permits for the Alcoa Badin Works facility that are too loose to meaningfully protect the health of surrounding communities,” the letter states. “NC DEQ must protect surface waters, not create permits that enable compliance by manipulating the sampling system.”

Gurney said that due to the public interest in Alcoa, it is likely there will be a public hearing regarding the license renewal, but did not say when. This would include a public comment period, which would be open for 30 days.