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Department of Natural Resources Wastewater Compliance Evaluation Inspection Report STATE OF I -vv- ~ DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES THOMAS J. VILSACK, GOVERNOR SALLY J. PEDERSON, LT. GOVERNOR LYLE W. ASELL, INTERIM DIRECTOR Field Office #1 909 West Main St. - Suite #4 Manchester, Iowa 52057 Phone: 319/927-2640 Fax: 319/927-2075 City of Dubuque City Hail 50 W. 13th Street Dubuque, IA 52001 Q 0 0 0";;;;' c. :0 ... '- c ,- r..... m ,.....'- , .' f /~ C ( -..J ,'- ..' !-n , (I) t.. "';p -- C) -.l~ - -.:.. )> _........ co m ~ 0 fj' N co .c- July 5, 2000 ATTENTION: Mayor and Council RE: Wastewater Compliance Evaluation Inspection Facility No. 31-26-0-01 We have enclosed the inspection report prepared by our Field Office Staff and a copy for your wastewater operator. You will find the inspection report self-explanatory. We encourage you to make every effort to comply with the recommendations. Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to write or call this office. Sincerely, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION (~(7)'1 ~.~ Ron Stellick Environmental Specialist Encs. cc: Wastewater Supt. - Paul Horsfall DNR - Wastewater Section - Des Moines Water Compliance Branch - U.S. EPA, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street. Kansas City, KS 66101 WALLACE STATE OFFICE BUILDING / DES MOINES, IOWA 50319 515-281 -5 1 45 TOO 515-242-5967 FAX 515-281-8895 WWW.STATE.IA.US/ONR NPDES Permit #31-26-0-01 RESPO:NSI~.LE OPERATOR> File Name g:dubuquecei.doc Fonn WWins.dot File # 63126001 Field Office 1 Manchester Page 1 of 3 ADDRESS: Ci Hall, 50 W. 13th Street STREAM NAME: Mississi i River DATE THIS INSPECTION: 6-12-00 PURPOSE: Com liance Evaluation Ins ection PHONE: DATE LAST INSPECTION: 7-1-99 DTrickling filter Lagoon DLa oon MGD: 17.3 MGD (average daily): 9.05 (A r. 00) [8]Activated sludge DRBC DSBR DAerated [8]Disinfection POUNDS BOD/DA Y: 24,400 POUNDS BOD: 16,400 (A r. 00) NAME: Paul Horsfall NAME: Paul Horsfall GRADE: IV TITLE: Superintendent CERTIFICATION NUMBER: 7025 PERMIT COMPLIANCE SUMMARY SELF-MONITORING RESULTS: SAMPLES THIS INSPECTION [8] Sat. DMar', DUnsat. DSat. DMar . DUnsat. [8]None collected TYPE: N/A OPERA TION REPORTS SUBMITTED: [8] Sat. DMar, DUnsat. LAB DATA ATTACHED? o Yes [8] No REQUIRED DATA ON REPORT: TESTING ADEQUACY: [8] Sat. DMar, DUnsat. [8] Sat. DMar. DUnsat. SIGNATURE INSPECTOR: , / / DATE: ~Q'>o. A /T-e<- '-/ ")- J-_01> DOUG A. HAWKER ENVIRONMENT AL SPECIALIST REVfE;~ RON STELLICK ENVIRONMENT AL SPECIALIST DATE: 7-5-00 . . Facility Name: Dubuque Municipal WWTP Inspection Date: 6- 12-00 Page 2 of 3 Observations & Recommendations: On June 6,2000, I inspected the wastewater treatment plant that serves the City of Dubuque. I met with Wastewater Superintendent, Paul Horsfall, and toured the facilities. Below is a list of observations made and comments received during the course of this inspection. DESCRIPTION: 1. There is one pem1itted discharge that has monitoring and reporting requirements listed on the NPDES permit for this facility. Outfall 001 is listed as the discharge from an activated sludge WWTP. The discharge enters directly into the Mississippi River. Outfalls 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, and 007 are listed as various lift station overflows located throughout the sanitary sewer collection system. 2. This facility utilizes a high purity oxygen activated sludge process. The treatment units consist of two mechanically cleaned bar screens. two combination grease, grit and tlocculation units, three primary clarifiers, three separate oxygen activated sludge basins, four final clarifiers, effluent disinfection using gas chlorine, and dechlorination. Sludge removed from the primary and final clarifiers is thickened by centrifugation and standby belt presses, prior to being bumed in a fluidized bed incinerator. Ash is transported to a pair of ash storage lagoons on site. It is periodically dried and hauled to the Dubuque County Landfill with a Special Waste Authorization (SW A). OBSERVATIONS: 3. On the date of this inspection, all treatment units were on line with the exception of one of the three aeration basins which is on standby. The City may end up taking another aeration basin offline later this summer once the Fam1land Food plant closes down. Three of three final clarifiers were on line at the time of this inspection. The City will be taking down one of these clarifiers in the near future for routine maintenance. 4. On the date of this inspection, the final effluent from the chlorine contact chamber appeared to be very clear. This facility has routinely remained in compliance with all NPDES permit discharge limitations since the date of the last inspection on July L 1999, with the exception of a TSS violation in September 1999. This violation resulted from an equipment failure in one of the final clarifiers. 5. The Catfish Creek pump station is currently being rebuilt. This constmction is expected to be done by the end of August. 6. Since last year's inspection report, a number of old valves, pumps, and other metal stmctures located primarily near the headworks area of the WWTP have been repainted, repaired, or replaced. In addition to these mechanical structures, it is noted that there are numerous other valves and pumps located throughout the WWTP that will need to be refurbished or replaced in the upcoming years. As the WWTP continues to age, increasingly frequent maintenance of these high wear mechanical items will need to take place. 7. It is noted that the general housekeeping around the treatment plant grounds was very good. There continues to be a small amount of excessive parts and metal debris located near the oxygen plant that will be removed in the near future. 8. Dubuque continues to work to decrease the infiltration and inflow of extraneous water into the sanitary sewer collection system during precipitation events. These excessive flows routinely result in the direct bypass of raw sewage at several points within the collection system. This office has met with the City regarding this matter. Dubuque has developed a fairly comprehensive Sanitary Sewer Action Plan and is actively pursuing infiltration and intlow reduction efforts for FY 2000. There have been some obvious improvements in these matters over the past year. Most notable is that fact that the Cyclone grit removal system has not become plugged with sand. gravel, and mud this year despite several heavy rainfall events. The City is encouraged to continue to work on several sanitary sewer bottlenecks located primarily in the northwest section of town. 9. The Dubuque WWTP laboratory is fully certified for wastewater analysis. 10. The City has recently completed the cleaning of one of their ash storage lagoons. The removed fly ash is currently drying and will be land applied in the near future. 11. One of the town's major industrial users, Farmland Foods packing plant closed in June. Friday, June 9th was the last day of kill operations. At this time. the city is certain as to how much industrial activity will resume at this industry once the new owner's resume production. It is anticipated that there will not be a kill line in the future. The final disposition of Farmland's anaerobic pretreatment lagoon is unknown. This plant closure has the potential of cutting Dubuque WWTP's organic load by 1/3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The Wastewater Treatment Plant that serves the City of Dubuque was in good overall condition on the date of this inspection. The final discharge was very clear and no significant problems were noted. The City of Dubuque must continue to concentrate their infrastructure maintenance efforts on their sanitary sewer collection problems. The city should continue to keep this office infom1ed as to the progress being made to eliminate the routine bypasses of raw wastewater from the collection system during heavy rains. Except for the previously noted TSS violation, the Dubuque WWTP has routinely been in compliance with all NPDES pennit limitations throughout the past year. The time and cooperation of Mr. Horsfall during the course of this inspection was appreciated.