The N.C. Division of Water Resources has released for public comment a revised discharge permit for a quarry operation in Vanceboro.
Martin Marietta Material Inc.’s revised wastewater discharge permit for it’s Vanceboro quarry requires a biological integrity assessment once every two years through sampling for benthos, or small aquatic organisms that live in water.
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The permit also includes a monthly monitoring requirement for pH, total suspended solids and turbidity in the discharge, or effluent, from the mine.
Permit revisions were made after the permit the division issued last February to the company was rescinded based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that “end-result” requirements imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in permits were not allowed under the Clean Water Act.
Mining activity has not occurred at the Vanceboro site since the original permit was issued in 2013, according to a N.C. Department of Environmental Quality release.
The proposed permit would regulate 12 million gallons per day of mine dewatering and stormwater from two outfalls to unnamed tributaries of Blounts Creek. The creek is classified as a Class C, Swamp, Nutrient Sensitive Waterbody in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin.
The first benthic sampling would occur after the discharge begins between Feb. 1 and March 15, according to the release.
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Public comments on the revised permit will be accepted through Oct. 29 by email to publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with the subject line “NC0089168 Vanceboro Quarry,” and by mail to Wastewater Permitting (NC0089168), 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1617.
Details about the permit and a technical fact sheet are available at online DWR Vanceboro Quarry permit file.
