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CENTRAL VALLEY REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD <br />INSPECTION REPORT <br />27 August 1987 <br />DISCHARGER: TRIPLE E PRODUCE CORPORATION <br />LOCATION & COUNTY: Linne Road, San Joaquin County <br />CONTACT( S I : Nate Esformes- (owner) Paul Draper (General Manager) <br />INSPECTION DATE: 17 July 1987 <br />INSPECTED BY: Steve Salzman AUG 3 1 1987 <br />ACCOMPANIED BY: - - - ENVIROMENTAL HEALTH <br />FERMIT/SERVICES <br />OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS <br />San Joaquin County's AB 1803 program found a well south of Tracy that was <br />contaminated with chloroform. During the follow-up investigation, on 7 July <br />1987, I contacted Nate Esformes of Triple "E" Produce Corporation. fie operates <br />a tomato packing facility in Carbona which is up -gradient of the 1803 well. Fie <br />stated that they use chlorine in their process/wash water and discharge it to an <br />unlined pond. <br />I inspected the facility on 17 July 1987. We discussed the waste discharge <br />requirements process and remedial actions such as lining and aerating the pond. <br />Their processing is as follows. "Green mature" tomatoes are dumped into one end <br />of a horse- shoe- shaped tank that is filled with approximately 5,000 gallons of <br />heavily chlorinated water. The chlorine level (between 80 and 250 ppm) was <br />suggested by Joseph Agawa of Davis University and 1s maintained by an automatic <br />feeder system. A pump circulates the water in the tank. This moves the <br />tomatoes to the other end in about 60 seconds. They are removed by a conveyor <br />belt, rinsed with fresh water, manually sorted, waxed, packed, then treated with <br />ethylene gas to ripen them. The rinse water enters the tank and thus forces a <br />discharge of approximately 3-5 gallons per minute throughout the 10 -hour work <br />day. At the end of each day, the tank is emptied into the pond. The pond also <br />accepts runoff from a paved area where the trucks are unloaded. <br />Water samples were collected from the tank, the pond and the on-site production <br />well. The results of an EPA 601 analysis are as follows: <br />Tank <br />Pond <br />Well <br />Chloroform <br />790 <br />ppb <br />310 <br />ppb <br />0.3 <br />ppb <br />Bromoform <br />2.2 <br />ppb <br />12 <br />ppb <br /><1.0 <br />ppb <br />Dichlorobromomethane <br />27 <br />ppb <br />85 <br />ppb <br /><0.5 <br />ppb <br />Dibromochloromethane <br />5 <br />ppb <br />39 <br />ppb <br /><0.5 <br />ppb <br />Chlorobenzene <br />130 <br />ppb <br />240 <br />ppb <br />Q.0 <br />ppb <br />