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CALIFORNIA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD CENTRAL VALLEY REGION MONITORING AND REPORTING ORDER NO. R5-2014-0815 CALIFORNIA WATER CODE SECTION 13267 FOR NESTLE USA, INC. FORMER RIPON PROCESSING PLANT SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY This Order is issued to Nestle USA, Inc. (hereafter Discharger) pursuant to California Water Code section 13267, which authorizes the Executive Officer of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region (hereafter Central Valley Water Board) to issue a Monitoring and Reporting Order (Order). The Executive Officer finds: INTRODUCTION 1. Nestle USA, Inc. (Discharger) owned and operated a manufacturing plant (Site) in the City of Ripon, San Joaquin County, California. The Site was built in the 1930's and was initially used for the production and processing of dairy products. Between 1948 and 1986 the Discharger manufactured caffeinated and decaffeinated instant coffee. In 1986 the manufacture of instant decaffeinated coffee ceased. From 1986 to 1994 the Site was used as a packing plant for coffee products. The Site closed in 1994. 2. Between 1957 and 1970, the Discharger used trichloroethene (TCE) to extract caffeine during manufacture of decaffeinated coffee. In 1970 the Discharger discontinued the use of TCE. Between 1970 and 1986 the Discharger extracted caffeine with methylene chloride. 3. Between 1957 and 1970, the Discharger discharged untreated water to the City of Ripon industrial sewer that had been separated from TCE with a gravity separator. Coffee beans were placed in a rotating vessel and soaked in water to hydrate them. Next, the water was drained from the vessel, the vessel partially filled with TCE, and the vessel rotated for several hours to allow the TCE to extract caffeine from the beans. Then the TCE was drained to a solution tank and steam was piped into the vessel to remove residual TCE from the beans. The steam with TCE vapor was piped into a condenser and the resulting liquid drained to the solution tank that held the liquid TCE previously drained from the rotating vessel. Next, the liquid TCE and water held in the solution tank were piped to a gravity separator. The water was separated from the TCE product and discharged, untreated, to the industrial sewer lateral connected to the City of Ripon industrial sewer system, ultimately reaching the City Ponds adjacent to the north bank of the Stanislaus River. The Discharger discontinued untreated water discharge from the gravity separator when it converted to the methylene chloride decaffeination process in 1970.