MMA”) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No

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MMA”) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS Massachusetts Maritime Academy (“MMA”) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. MA0024368 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) are issuing a final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Wastewater Treatment Plant, in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. The Final Permit authorizes MMA to discharge wastewater to the Cape Cod Canal, in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et. seq., and the Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, M.G.L. Ch. 21, §26-53. The Draft Permit public comment period began on August 27, 2010, and ended on September 25, 2010. Comments were received from Paul O’Keefe, Director of Facilities, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Korrin N. Petersen, Esq., Vice President of Advocacy, Coalition for Buzzards Bay ("The Coalition"), and Jack P. Schwartz, Ph.D, Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Station, Division of Massachusetts Marine Fisheries (“Marine Fisheries”), in letters dated: September 20, 2010, September 24, 2010, and August 31, 2010, respectively. Summary of Changes from Draft Permit 1) Fecal coliform limits of 14 colonies/100ml (monthly geometric mean) and 43 MPN/100 ml (maximum daily) have been included. These limits were included in the previous (2001) permit. See response No. 2. 2) The language establishing conditions under which the permittee may seek a reduction in whole effluent toxicity testing has been removed. See response No. 3. 3) The “report” requirement for total copper on Page 3 of the permit has been replaced with a 0.5 mg/l limit. See response No. 9. 4) The last sentence in footnote 3, on Page 4 of the draft permits has been removed. 5) Footnote 6 has been changed to include the following. The fecal coliform limits are EPA permit requirements only. The State Surface Water Discharge Permit (issued jointly with the EPA permit) does not include fecal coliform limits. See “Section 401 Certification” MMA Response to Comments, Page 1 of 9 6) Under Part I.A1 table on Page 2 the WET limit has been corrected to read LC50 ≥ 50%. 7) In Permit Attachment B, the second item for average annual flow has been corrected to read Part I.A.1.f. Comments (1-4) from MMA Comment No. 1: Fact sheet page 2, Section V. A. Process Description: Correct the description to include three lift stations for the MMA campus: Pier, Library, and Influent Pump stations. Response No. 1: The fact sheet is developed to support the Draft Permit and is not typically amended in response to public comment because it is not issued as part of the Final Permit decision. The comments submitted on the fact sheet are part of the administrative record and serve to correct the administrative record for the permit. Comment No. 2: Fact sheet page 6, Conventional Pollutants, Fecal Coliform: The current permit has a fecal coliform limit of 14 colonies/100ml. To ensure that anti-backsliding provisions are not violated, the draft permit should repeat this limit. NOTE: It appears the fact sheet is basing fecal coliform limits on the SB designation for the Cape Cod Canal. Response No. 2: The June 13, 2000 Fact Sheet for the February 20, 2001 permit reissuance states: Due to the close proximity of the shellfish beds to the discharge, the draft permit reflects reduced limits for fecal coliform bacteria, equivalent to that required for Class SA waters. …The discharge from the upgraded facility will then be required to meet the specified more restrictive requirements for fecal coliform of 43 MPN/100 ml maximum daily. Section 402(o) of the CWA generally provides that the effluent limitations of a renewed, reissued, or modified permit must be at least as stringent as the comparable effluent limitations in the previous permit. EPA has also promulgated anti-backsliding regulations which are found at 40 CFR. § 122.44(l). Unless applicable anti-backsliding requirements are met, the limits and conditions in the reissued permit must be at least as stringent as those in the previous permit. MMA Response to Comments, Page 2 of 9 EPA agrees that the fecal coliform limits of 14 colonies/100ml (monthly geometric mean) and 43 MPN/100 ml (maximum daily), should be carried forward from the 2001 permit based on anti-backsliding requirements and has included these limits in the Final Permit. EPA notes that the fecal coliform criteria for SA shellfishing waters in the most current state water quality standards (approved by EPA on September 19, 2007) are more stringent than those in the standards in effect at the time the 2001 permit was issued (the 10 percent exceedance value has been reduced to 28 colonies/100 ml). EPA does not believe that the fecal coliform limits need to be made more stringent than in the 2001 permit to protect shellfishing in adjacent SA waters. Comment No. 3: Fact sheet pages 9-10, Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET): MMA currently performs annual WET testing and has been in compliance for the previous four years. MMA is requesting that EPA review the previous four years of data to verify compliance with WET testing standards and reduce the testing and reporting requirements to a biennial (every two years) monitoring requirement. Response No. 3: The language found on Page 10 of the Fact Sheet is standard language for permittees required to conduct WET tests. The language allowing the reduction of WET testing requirements should not have been included in the Fact Sheet or in the Draft Permit because the WET testing frequency in the Draft Permit was already at the minimum frequency allowed under the Clean Water Act. Specifically, 40 CFR § 122.44(i)(2) states that …requirements to report monitoring results shall be established on a case-by-case basis with a frequency dependent on the nature and effect of the discharge, but in no case less than once a year. Accordingly, the WET testing requirements in the permit have not been changed, and the language establishing conditions under which the permittee may seek a reduction in testing has been removed. Comment No. 4: Fact sheet page 13, Sludge Conditions: MMA uses a licensed sanitary disposal company to transport biosolids (sludge) from the wastewater treatment plant to the local, licensed publicly owned treatment works. MMA requests exemption from the reporting requirement under section 8 of the draft permit since sludge is not land disposed, disposed in a surface unit, nor incinerated. MMA Response to Comments, Page 3 of 9 Response No. 4: As long as MMA engages a contractor or contractors for sludge preparation and ultimate use or disposal, the annual report need contain only the name and address of the contractor responsible for sludge preparation, use or disposal, the quantity of sludge from the POTW that is transferred to the sludge contractor, and the method(s) by which the contractor will prepare and use or dispose of the sewage sludge. If MMA changes its sludge use or disposal practice, then additional sludge requirements may apply. The sludge language in the permit has not been changed. Comments (5 and 6) from the Coalition Comment No. 5: MMA WWTP Nitrogen Performance - According to the Fact Sheet, from June 1, 2006 to August 31, 2009, the average total nitrogen concentration for the MMA WWTP discharge was 38.28 mg/l. While the average discharge flow and overall load to Buzzards Bay is relatively low, approximately 8.3lbs/day, this discharge concentration is much greater than the concentrations achieved by other WWTPs throughout the Buzzards Bay watershed. Therefore, The Coalition supports 'Special Condition F' in the Draft Permit requiring the permittee to complete an evaluation of alternative methods of operating the existing wastewater treatment facility to optimize the removal of nitrogen. The Coalition recognizes that certain features of this waste stream may present treatment challenges. For example, this facility serves a fluctuating student population which creates inconsistent wastewater flow volumes making treatment for nitrogen more difficult, however not impossible. Many of our local communities operating wastewater treatment facilities face similar treatment challenges in that their populations are seasonal. However, The Coalition is confident that in complying with this special condition, MMA will identify various technologies and strategies which will reduce the nitrogen in their effluent, and emerge as a leader in enhanced treatment of nitrogen in the face of these waste stream challenges. The Coalition looks forward to reviewing this evaluation. In support of this evaluation, The Coalition and MMA have agreed that MMA shall monitor and report on monthly basis, and for the duration of this permit, the total nitrogen concentration in its effluent, and report such results to The Coalition and EPA. Such monitoring shall be in accordance with Footnote 3, page 4 of the Draft NPDES Permit. MMA Response to Comments, Page 4 of 9 Response No. 5: We understand that the permittee has already begun working with engineers to maximize the potential nitrogen removal from the existing treatment system. The reports required by the permit will be available to the public (unless in the unlikely event the permittte claims that information in the reports is confidential business information). Regarding the memorandum of understanding between MMA and the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, the permittee is obviously free to monitor its discharge more frequently than required by the permit (the permit requires quarterly monitoring). Also, while we understand that the MOU requires the submittal of this additional monitoring data to EPA, we wish to remind MMA that the reporting of this data to EPA and MassDEP is required by Part II.D.4.(2) of the permit and 40 CFR 122.41(l)(4)(ii).
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